THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

CERF  LIBRARY 

PRESENTED  BY 

REBECCA  CERF  *02 

IN  THE  NAMES  OF 

CHARLOTTE  CERF  '95 

MARCEL  E.  CERF  '97 

BARRY  CERF  *02 


THE  LAND  OF  THE  FREE  AND  THE  HOME  OF 
THE  BRAVE. 


ISSUES  OF  THE  DAY 

BEING  A  TEXT-BOOK  ON 

THE  POLITICAL  SITUATION 

PAST  AND  PRESENT 


Our    Country — Its    People — Its    Government — Its    Greatness — 

The  Rise  and  Fall  of  Political  Parties— The  Tariff, 

Silver,  Financial  and  Other  Issues  Fully  Explained 


A  COMPLETE  DICTIONARY  OF  CIVIL 
GOVERNMENT 


FIFTH  EDITION 

REVISED    AND    ENLARGED 


PUBLISHED  BY 

CONRAD  H.  OLIVER 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 


SOLD  ONLY  BY  SUBSCRIPTION 
1904 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1895, 

By  J.  L.  NICHOLS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1896, 

By  J.  L.  NICHOLS  &  Co., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PREFACE. 


THE  United  States  is  the  grandest  nation  of  the  globe  and 
the  nineteenth  century  the  crowning  era  of  all  pro- 
gress in  civilization  made  by  the  human  race.  To  perpetu- 
ate the  liberties  we  enjoy,  to  keep  step  with  the  age  of 
progress  in  its  onward  march,  to  thwart  the  dangers  threat- 
ening our  peace,  prosperity,  and  safety  is  the  earnest 
endeavor  of  every  true  American  citizen.  Our  safety  lies 
in  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  facts  and  in  our  ability 
to  control  the  forces  that  shape  our  weal  or  woe. 

The  average  American  has  neither  time  nor  disposition 
to  plod  through  volumes  that  elaborately  set  forth  the  facts 
of  history,  science,  and  civil  government.  In  our  age  of 
intense  activity  we  need  truths  briefly  stated  in  clear,  dis- 
tinct, and  definite  terms,  so  as  to  be  comprehended  at  once 
by  the  masses. 

Safe  Citizenship  is  a  book  for  the  busy  man,  alike  for 
the  professional  man,  the  liteiary  man,  and  the  practical 
man  of  the  shop,  the  counter,  and  the  plow.  In  it  are 
grouped  and  clearly  defined  the  essentials  of  ideal  and 
practical  citizenship.  Here  is  found,  that  which  concerns 
The  Citizen,  followed  by  Our  Country  and  Its  People. 
Inventors  and  Inventions  show  the  progress  of  the  century. 

Our  Government,  its  system  and  departments,  together 
with  the  principles  and  methods  of  Voting,  The  Ballot  and 
Ballot  Reform  and  a  history  of  Political  Parties  and 
Nominating  Conventions,  are  set  forth  in  distinct  and 
graphic  terms.  The  principal  events  and  important  occur- 
rences of  each  of  the  Administrations  are  stated  in  well 
chosen  language,  A  prominent  feature  of  the  work  is  the 
discussion  of  Current  Topics  and  Problems  followed  by 
Issues  of  the  Pay,  embracing  all  the  vital  questions  that 
agitate  the  public  mind. 

Internatipnal  ancj  Foreign"  Affairs  are  not  overlooked, 
while  The  Campaign  of  1896,  its  candidates,  comparison  of 
platforms  of  parties  and  political  affairs  in  general  are  fully 
discussed. 

With  the  hope  that  thousands  may  be  led  to  compre- 
hend the  sway  that  the  citizen  has  over  the  destinies  of 
America,  and  that  other  thousands  may  be  inspired  to 
noble  and  heroic  efforts  in  the  perpetuation  and  further 
development  of  the  ideally  great  and  grand  Republic  of 
the  earth,  this  volume  is  sent  forth, 

PUBLISHERS. 


M5G6949 


"Man  is  born  a  citizen." — Aristotle. 

"Education  is  a  better  safeguard  than  a  standing  army. 
— Edward  Everett. 

'-'He  serves  his  party  best  who  serves  his  country  best." 
—Rutherford  B.  Hayes. 

"Our  greatest  danger  in  this  country  fs  cooperative 
wealth."— Wendell  Phillips. 

"Liberty  can  be  safe  only  when  suffrage  is  illuminated 
by  education." — James  A.  Garfield. 

"My  concern  is  not  whether  God  is  on  our  side;  my 
great  concern  is  to  be  on  God's  side,  for  God  is  always 
right." — Abraham  Lincoln. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE  CITIZEN:  PAGE. 

Advantages  and  Responsibilities  of  American  Citi- 
zens    19 

The  Duties  of  an  American  Citizen 20 

Political  Training  for  the  Citizen 22 

The  Young  Statesman's  Opportunities 27 

The  Young  Man's  First  Vote 29 

Citizenship 30 

Naturalization  Laws 31 

The  Rights  of  an  American  Citizen 33 

Our  Civil  and  Political  Rights 37 

How  to  Become  a  Public  Speaker 40 

Parliamentary  Laws 44 

CHAPTER  II. 

OUR  COUNTRY  AND  ITS  PEOPLE: 
Origin  and  Development. 

The  Story  of  American  Independence 49 

The  Story  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. ...  57 

Corner  Stones  of  American  History 62 

Origin  of  Our  National  Flag 65 

Origin  of  Thanksgiving  Day ,  70 

Origin  of  Decoration  Day 73 

What  the  Americans  Have  Done 73 

The  Growth  of  Our  Cities 82 

One  of  Chicago's  Greatest  Industries 87 

Our  National  Greatness 91 

Our  Territory , ....  92 

Our  Population 94 

Our  Magnificent  Scenery 96 

Our  Agricultural  and  Mineral  Resources 98 

Our  National  WeaUh 98 

vii 


Viii  TABLE  OF   CONTENTS. 

PAGE",. 

Our  Constitutional  Liberties 985 

Our  Industry  and  Ingenuity , . . .  100' 

Our  Philanthropic,  Educational  and  Christian  In- 
stitutions   ,  103: 

Our  Possibilities 10$ 

Threatening  Dangers: 

Immigration 105- 

Intemperance 105' 

Centralization  of  Wealth 105 

Government  of  Large  Cities 106' 

A  Corrupt  and  Ignorant  Ballot 107' 

CHAPTER  III. 

INVENTORS  AND  INVENTIONS. 

The  Cotton  Gin 109 

Story  of  the  First  Sewing  Machine 110 

Prof.  Morse's  Trial 113 

Story  of  the  First  Electric  Telegraph 116 

Laying  of  the  Atlantic  Cable 118 

Different  Submarine  Lines 120 

Printing  Telegraphs 120 

First  Steamboat 121 

Story  of  the  First  Railroad 124 

Story  of  the  First  Street  Car 128 

A  New  Era  in  Traveling 132 

Invention  of  the  Electric  Light 133 

Type  Setting  Machines 136 

Discovery  of  the  Telephone 137 

Invention  of  the  Typewriter 137 

The  X  Ray  s 189 

CHAPTER  IV. 
OUR  GOVERNMENT. 
State  Papers. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence 142 

The  Constitution U7 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS,  f* 

PAGE; 

The  Emancipation  Proclamation 169* 

Departments  of  Our  Government 16$ 

How  Bills  are  Passed  and  Laws  made  in  Congress. .  162? 
Our  Congress  Compared  with  European  Parliaments  168> 
Changes  in  Congress 17$ 

CHAPTER  V. 

VOTING,  THE  BALLOT,  AND  BALLOT  REFORM. 

History  of  Voting 180 

The  Australian  Ballot 184 

Registration  Laws 185 

Qualifications  for  Voting 186 

Educational  and  Property  Qualifications  for  Voting..  191 

Ballot  Reform 193 

Cumulative  Voting,, .' 193 

Shall  Women  Vote  ? , 197 

Where  Wromen  Vote 204 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PARTIES,  RISE  AND  FALL.    NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

Rise  and  Rage  of  Political  Issues 209 

Origin  of  Political  Parties  in  America 21T 

Party  Government 224 

Complete  History  of  National  Nominating  Conven- 
tions  230 

The  Political  Landslides  of  America 261 

The  Spoils  System  in  American  Politics 267 

Filibustering,  or  Legislative  Obstructions 273 

Gerrymandering 275 

CHAPTER  VII. 
ADMINISTRATIONS. 

I.    George  Washington  and  John  Adams 279 

II.    George  Washington  and  John  Adams 282 

III.    John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson 287 


X  TABLE  OF   CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

IV.  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr 291 

V.  Thomas  Jefferson  and  George  Clinton 295 

VI.  James  Madison  and  George  Clinton 298 

VII.  James  Madison  and  Elbridge  Gerry 301 

VIII.  James  Monroe  and  Daniel  E.  Tompkins...  303 

IX.  James  Monroe  and  Daniel  E.  Tompkins. ..  308 

X.  John  Quincy  Adams  and  J.  C.  Calhoun ....  311 

XI.  Andrew  Jackson  and  J.  C.  Calhoun 313 

XII.  Andrew  Jackson  and  Martin  Van  Buren..  319 

XIII.  Martin  Van  Buren  and  R.  M.  Johnson 323 

XIV.  William  H.  Harrison  and  John  Tyler. ....  327 
XV.  J.  K.  Polk  and  George  M.  Dallas 332 

XVI.  Zachary  Taylor  and  Millard  Fillmore 336 

XVII.  Franklin  Pierce  and  William  R.  King  ....  339 

XVIII.  James  Buchanan  and  J.  C.  Breckenridge. .  344 

XIX.  Abraham  Lincoln  and  H.  Hamlin 350 

XX.  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Andrew  Johnson  . . .  356 

XXI.  Ulysses  S.  Grant  and  S.  Colfax 361 

XXII.  Ulysses  S.  Grant  and  Henry  Wilson 365 

XXIII.  R.  B.  Hayes  and  William  A.  Wheeler 370 

XXIV.  James  A.  Garfield  and  C.  A.  Arthur 374 

XXV.  Grover  Cleveland  and  T.  A.  Hendricks.. . .  383 

XXVI.    Benjamin  H.  Harrison  and  L.  P.  Morton.. .  385 

XXVII.    Grover  Cleveland  and  A.  Stevenson 392 

Rhymed  History  ofthe  Administrations 398 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
CURRENT  TOPICS  AND  PROBLEMS. 

Education  and  Crime 400 

Prison  Labor  and  Prison  Reform 403 

Different  Methods  of  Capital  Punishment 406 

Mortgage  Debt 415 

Origin  and  History  of  Our  Common  School  System. .  417 

The  Hope  of  Our  Public  Schools 422 

School  Savings  Banks  and  How  to  Organize  Them. .  426 

Military  Training  in  Public  Schools 432 

United  States  Naval  School 435 

United  States  Military  Academy 438 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGE. 

United  States  Lands  and  Land  Laws,  Foreign  Owner- 
ship  444 

Civil  Service  Reform— Principles  and  Rules  ....  446-452 
Government  of  Large  Cities ,,,. 456 

CHAPTER  IX. 
ISSUES  OF  THE  DAY 
Strikes. 

Complete  History .••«•••••.«.  459 

Pullman  Strike 463 

Arbitration 468 

Right  and  Wrong  of  Strikes 470 

Labor,  Laws  and  Legislation 474-483 

Intemperance,  Blighting  Curse  of  Labor 484 

The  Tramp  and  Industrial  Armies. 490-95 

Trusts— Cause  and  Effects 498 

Government  Control  of  Railroads 501 

Right  of  Control 503 

Protection  and  Free  Trade 506-509 

Tariff,  History  of  United  States 510 

McKinley  and  Wilson  Bills  Compared 514 

Reciprocity 516 

Tariff  Commission  League. , 517 

Tariff  Tables 518 

Panics,  History  of  all  Financial  Panics 527 

Money: 

First  Issued  in  America , 543 

Paper  Money  in  the  United  States 547 

Different  Commodities  Used  as  Money 549 

Philosophy  and  Laws  of  Use  of  Money 550 

Dimensions  of  All  Gold  and  Silver 556 

Chief  Coins  of  the  United  States 558 

Coinage  Statistics ,  559 

History  of  Gold  and  Silver  Legislation... 561 

Legal  Tender 563 

Explanation  of  "  16  to  1" 564 

Free  Coinage 566 

Bimetallism 567 


Xii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAOB. 

Silver  Demonetization 567 

The  Volume  of  Money 568 

"  Sound  Money"  by  Secretary  Carlisle 570 

"  Free  Silver,"  by  Senator  Teller 572 

Arguments  on  Both  Sides  of  the  Money  Question .  575 
Hard  Times 581 

CHAPTER  X. 
INTERNATIONAL  AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS. 

The  Monroe  Doctrine , 586 

International  Arbitration 587 

The  Venezuela  Dispute 588 

Modern  Martyrdom  in  Armenia 594 

Cuba  and  Its  Independence 599 

The  South  African  Republic 608 

Eastern  Crisis .609 

Arbitration  Treaty 612 

CHAPTER  XT. 

MISCELLANEOUS — TABLES  AND  STATISTICS. 

Platforms  of  '96  Compared 616 

The  Safety  of  Our  Government 628 

Gold  and  Silver  Glossary 624 

CHAPTER  XII. 
TABLES  AND  STATISTICS. 

Popular  and  Electoral  Vote  for  1388 626 

How  a    Candidate  Can  Receive  a  Majority  of  the 
Popular    Vote     and    Still    be    Defeated,    Fully 

Explained 625 

Electoral  Vote  for  1892  and  1896 626 

How  the  Electoral  Votes  of  a  State  May  be  Divided.  626 

Immigration  Into  the  United  States 627 

Population  of  Principal  Cities 628 

Wars  of  the  United  States 629 

Cost  of  Wars  of  the  United  States 630 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

Adams,  John 287 

Adams,  John  Quincy 311 

After  Election 270 

Alger,  Senator 177 

American   Enterprise 101 

Amerigo  Vespucci * 146 

Apart  From  Busy  Scenes 97 

Armenian  Murders 597 

Armenians  Tortured 594 

Arthur,  Chester  A 376 

Assignment,  After  the 538 

Australian  Ballot 184 

Bank,  The  Run  on 526 

Bayard,  Thomas  F 505 

Before  Election  269 

Beheading  Block 35 

Bimetallic  Exercise 575 

Blaine,  James  G 378 

Boy  in  the  Closet 578 

Bryan,  William 565 

Buchanan,  James v. 344 

Butler,  Benjamin  F 381 

Calhoun,  John  C 41 

Cent,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut 550 

Chair.  Used  by  First  Congress 55 

Chicago  in  1832 86 

Choate,  Hon.  Joseph  H 45 

Clay.  Henry 304 

Cleveland,  Grover 383 

Cleveland,  Mrs.  Grover 197 

Closing   School 423 

Coal  Miner's  Lot 483 

Coins  of  the  United  States 544 

Coins,  First  United  States 558 

Commercial  Trip 494 

Competition  is  Dead 499 

xiii 


XIV  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 

Congress,  Assembled  in , 179 

Continental  Money 545 

Cooper,  Peter ». 367 

Coxey's  Army 497 

Crime  and  Suffering  in  Cities 

Crisp,  Charles  F 394 

Currency  Table 569 

Dangerous  Experiment 576 

Darn  My  Stockings 206 

Davis,  Jefferson 350 

Debs,  Eugene  V 467 

Decorating  Graves  of  Heroes 72 

Depew,  Chauncey  M 396 

Dimensions  of  Gold  and  Silver 557 

Discovery  of  Printing ....117 

Doing  Business  with  Boys 427 

Dow,  General  Neal 484 

Edison,  Thomas  A 135 

Effects  of  Monopoly 501 

Election  Results 

Election  Returns.. 266 

Electric  Lights  on  Warships 134 

Electrical  Execution 416 

Events  of  19th  Century 108 

Execution    in  China 412 

Execution  in  Italy 410 

Execution  of  Kempher 416 

Fakir  . .  .547 

Faneuil  Hall 64 

Father  of  Our  Country 281 

Father,  Son  and  Mother 199 

Fillmore,  Millard 336 

First  Bicycle 132 

First  Farm  in  New  England 74 

First  Hotel  in  Boston 77 

First  Railroad  Engine 125 

First  Railroad  Train 126 

First  Steamboat 120 

First  Telegraph  Instrument 115 

First  Warship 79 

Flags  of  United  States 65-69 

Flower,  Ex-Governor 513 

Foraker,  Joseph  P 616 

Foreigners 30 

Foreign  Ownership  of  Land 443 


ILLUSTRATIONS*  xv 

PAGE. 

Franklin,  Benjamin i  v 28 

Franklin  Before  French  Court 63 

French  Typewriter 138 

Frontispiece 

Fuller,  Chief  Justice 154 

Fulton's  First  Steamboat 121 

Fulton,  Robert 123 

Garfield,  James  A 375 

Garfield  on  Canal  377 

Gerrymander  District,  First 277 

Gerrymandering 276 

Gomez,  Maximo 600 

Governor's  House  in  New  York 92 

Grandfathers' Voting   Place 190 

Grant,  Ulysses  S 362 

Great  Tunnel 502 

Greeley,  Horace 372 

Guillotine  Execution 414 

Hamilton,  Alexander 147 

Hayes,   Rutherford  B 371 

Hanging  for  Mutiny 406 

Hard  Times 580 

Harrison,  W.  H 328 

Harrison,   Benjamin -. . .  385 

Henry,  Patrick,  Addressing  Congress  52 

Henry,   Patrick 42 

Hill,   David  B 620 

Hobart,  G.  A 

Homeless,  But  Willing  to  Work 492 

Home  of  the  First  Law-Maker  in  America 37 

Home  of  Our  Grandmother  ...» 75 

Honest  Industry 38 

Honest  Man's  Dilemma 579 

Howe,  EJias Ill 

House  of  First  Telegraph  Instrument 116 

House  of  Lords 172 

Independence  Hall 49 

ackson,  Andrew 314 

ail  Yard 417 

ay,  John,  Chief  Justice 150 

efferson's  Desk 51 

efferson,  Thomas 291 

ohnson,  Andrew 359 


xvi  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGfi. 

Killing  Cattle  at  Armour's 87 

Kruger,  President 608 

La  Fayette 3lO 

Lament,  Daniel c 395 

Land  Owned  by  Foreigners 443 

Last  of  Their  Race 95 

Lee,  Robert  E 354 

Levering,  Joshua 

Lincoln,  Splitting  Rails 349 

Lincoln,  Abraham „ 356 

Lincoln,  Robert 391 

Listening  to  Horr  and  Harvey 574 

Logan,  John  A 380 

Luxury 513 

Lynch  Law 34 

Madison,  James 299 

Man's  Fears  Realized 207 

Man  Who  Never  Reads  the  Papers 107 

Market  Wagon,  Fifty  Years  Ago 93 

Massa  Says  We're  Free.. 161 

McKinley,  William 400a 

Military  Training  in  Public  Schools 433 

Mills,  Roger  Q 386 

Mission  of  Peace 615 

Modern  Dining  Car 127 

Modern  Warship , 80 

Monroe,  James 303 

Morse,  Prof.  Samuel  F.  B 114 

Mortgage  Grip. 584 

Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary 102 

Mt.  Vernon 285 

National  Capitol 170 

National  Executive  Committee 229 

New  York  Harbor 83 

New  York  in  1612 82 

New  York  in  1846 83 

No  School  in  Reach 418 

No  Thanksgiving  Here 264 

Not  Recognized 453 

Oglesby,  Richard..                                               387 

Old  Style., 90 

Olney,  Richard 392 

Our  Rights,  "  Clear  Comfort "...., 39 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  xvii 


PAGE. 

Palmer,  Senator  John  M 195 

Parkhurst,  Rev.  Dr 456 

Parliament  Building 174 

Party  Orator 226 

Passing  Stamp  Act  in  Parliament 53 

Pierce,  Franklin , 339 

Platt,  Thomas  C 178 

Political  Gathering „ 508 

Political  Map  of  1892 263 

Political  Map  of  1894 265 

Politicians  Fixing  Ticket 272 

Polk,  James  K 832 

Prisoners  at  Work 404 

Pueblo  Smelting  Works 104 

Punishment  in  Olden  Times 33 

Queen  of  the  Ocean 322 

Reed,  Thomas  B 47 

Reid,  Whitelaw 390 

Remington  Typewriter 138 

Removal  for  Cause 445 

Revenue  Collector's  Office 506 

Russell,  William 217 

Scene  in  Congress 165 

School  Savings  Bank 430 

Schurz,  Carl 355 

Sea  Battle , 436 

Sewall,  Arthur  J 

Sherman,  John 393 

Shilling,  New  England 543 

Shilling,  New  Hampshire 548 

Shilling,  Maryland 549 

Signing  Declaration  of  Independence 143 

Simpson,  Jerry 444 

Skeleton  of  a  Frog 140 

Sovereign,  J.  R 478 

Stage  Coach 131 

Stevens,  Alexander  H 352 

Stevenson,  Adlai 163 

Stevenson,  John 128 

Sticking  Hogs  at  Armour's 88 

St.  John,  John  P 382 

Strike  of  Coal  Miners 460 

Strikers  Attacking   Proprietor 462 

Strike  in  Chicago 464 


XVlil  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PACK. 

Strike  in  South  Chicago 466 

Strikes,  Effects  of 471 

Studying  the  Silver  Question 

Successful  Candidate 448 

Sumner,  Charles 23 

Surveying  Land 439 

Sutler's  Mill 78 

Talking  Politics 208 

Taylor,  Zachary 334 

Tariff  not  the  Issue 578 

Teaching  School,  Old  Way 419 

Teaching  School,  New  Way 421 

Temperance  Education  Map 487 

Temperance  Temple 489 

Thanksgiving  Sleighride 71 

Tilden,  Samuel  J 369 

Township  With  Section  Lines 441 

Tramp,  The  Professional 491 

Tramp  Who  Earned  His   Meal 493 

Tyler,  John 330 

Type-Setting  Machine 136 

United  States  Seal 546 

Vail,  Judge  Steven 119 

Valley  Forge 61 

Van  Buren,   Martin 323 

Venezuela  Map 588 

Waltham  Watch  Works 76 

Wall  Street,  New  York 218 

Ward  Heeler 268 

Washington,  George 280 

Washington's  Fireplace 19 

Washington's  Official  Carriage 62 

Washington  Resigning  His  Commission 26 

Watterson,  Henry 388 

Watson,  Thomas  E 

Weaver,  J.  B 391 

Webster,  Daniel 40 

Weyler,  General 601 

Whitney's  Cotton  Gin 110 

Wilson,  W.  L 515 

Woolley,  John  G 621 

Woman's  Rights 205 

Woman  Who  Would  Vote 203 

Woman  Who  Would  Not  Vote 201 

Young  America's  Idea  of  Liberty 99 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CITIZEN. 


General  Washington's  Fire  Place. 


Advantages   and    Responsibilities    of 
an  American  Citizen. 

x.  Advantages.  —  Our  age  is  indeed  a  golden  age.  We 
are  favored  as  no  other  people.  Our  advantages  greatly 
surpass  those  of  the  citizen  of  any  other  nation  of  the  world. 
This  is  clearly  seen  in  our  natural  facilities,  our  delight  in 
scientific  research,  the  increased  intelligence  and  quicken- 
ing of  the  public  mind,  the  diffusion  and  popularizing  of 
knowledge  through  the  press,  as  well  as  the  demand  for  even 
a  greater  dissemination  of  knowledge  among  all  classes. 

2.  Responsibilities.  —  These  advantages  bring  with  them 
corresponding  responsibilities.  Bound  to  allegiance  on  the 
one  hand  and  entitled  to  protection  on  the  other.the  American 
citizen  is  of  necessity  compelled  to  inform  himself  on  the 
principles  of  government,  the  progress  and  development  of 

19 


20  DUTIES   OF   AN   AMERICAN   CITIZEN. 

the  nation,  including  the  living  issues  of  the  day.  Our 
nation  is  what  we  as  citizens  make  it.  The  citizen  can 
make  its  future  as  the  full  blown  flower  of  which  ihe  pres- 
ent is  but  the  opening  bud,  or  by  a  selfish  neglect  of  duties 
he  may  permit  imminent  and  threatening  dangers  to  thwart 
the  growthj  if  not  to  overthrow  the  nation  whose  possibili- 
ties were  never  equaled.  Safe  citizenship  demands  a  care- 
ful study  of  our  country  and  its  people,  our  governmen 
and  all  the  questions  of  vital  interest  constantly  pressing  to 
the  front.  He  who  will  not  inform  himself  upon  the  living 
issues  of  the  day  and  interest  himself  in  these  subjects  so 
essential  to  national  life,  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  citi- 
zen, and  by  his  very  ignorance  and  selfishness  becomes  in 
fact,  if  not  in  intention,  an  enemy  of  his  own  nation.  We 
rightfully  boast  of  the  grandeur  of  our  nation,  of  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  past,  of  a  promising  future,  but  we  cannot 
make  too  emphatic  the  fact  that  great  as  are  the  advan- 
tages and  possibilities,  the  dangers  are  correspondingly 
great,  and  awful  will  be  the  calamity  if  the  citizen  fails  to 
realize  his  responsibility  as  a  member  of  the  body  politic. 

"England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty,"  said  Nel- 
son on  the  eve  of  a  great  battle.  Our  nation  can  expect 
nothing  less  of  every  individual  citizen  in  the  coming  con- 
flict with  ignorance  and  vice.  Given  these  conditions  in 
which  the  citizen  realizes  his  responsibilities  and  our  future 
is  no  longer  in  the  scale  of  doubt. 


Duties  of  an  American  Citizen. 

1.  Political  Rights. — Every  American  or  foreign-born 
citizen  of  the  United  States  has  certain  political  privileges 
and  inalienable  rights.      In  order  to  sustain  a  good  govern- 
ment every  man  should  exercise  his  political  rights  to  the 
best  of  his  knowledge.    As  every  citizen  is  protected  by  the 
government  he  should  not  shrink  from  his  duty  in  giving 
to  the  state  certain  protection  whenever  he  may  be  called 
upon  to  do  so.    We  need  better  citizenship,  more  educa- 
tion, and  a  better  knowledge  of  our  system  of  government. 
Every  man  should  be  able  to  vote  intelligently. 

2.  Your  Duty. — It  is  your  duty  as  an  American  citizen 
to  obey  the  laws,  even  if  they  are,  in  your  belief,  unjust  or 
unwise.    General  Grant  once  shrewdly  said  that  the  best 
way  to  procure  the  repeal  of  an  unjust  or  unwise  law  was  to 
rigorously  enforce  it.     It  is  your  right  to  expose  the  folly  or 
injustice  of  a  law,  to  demand  its  repeal,  and  to  try  to  get  a 
majority  to  repeal  it.    But  while  it  remains  a  law,  you  are 
to  obey  it. 


DUTIES  OF    AN  AMERICAN  CITIZEN. 

3.  Voting  at  the  Polls.— It  is  the  duty  of  every  Ameri- 
can citizen  to  exercise  his  right  to  vote  at  all  the  primaries 
and  all  the  elections  to  which  he  is  eligible.    The  American 
people  are  too  indifferent  in  nominating  and  supporting 
men  for  office.    To  put  up  a  ticket  is  too  frequently  left  to 
a  lot  of  "bummer"  politicians,  and  the  masses  vote  the 
ticket  because  it  is  gotten  up  by  the  "  bummers  "  of  their 
party.    When  selfish  and  unprincipled  politicians  control 
the  election,  incompetent  and  unworthy  men    are  put  up 
and  elected  to  office,    indifference  on  the  part  of  the  people 
is  the  curse  of  American  politics.    Every  citizen  should  go 
to  the  caucuses  or  primaries  and  insist  upon  the  nomination 
of  good  men,  and  if  incompetent  or  unworthy  men  are 
nominated  refuse  to  support  them.     Every  good   citizen 
should  support  the  best  man  for  the  office,  regardless  of 
politics,  when  it  becomes  a  question  of  fitness,  and  refuse  to 
vote  for  a  man  whom  he  knows    to  be    unworthy    and 
unqualified  to  fill  the  office  for  which  he  has  been  nomi- 
Hated.     It  is  a  dangerous  thing  to  vote  for  a  man   simply 
because  he  has  been  nominated  by  a  certain  party.     Let 
merit  and  ability  be  the  claim  for  office. 

4.  Prompt  Execution  of  the  Laws. — It  is  your  duty  to 
insist  upon  the  prompt  execution  of  the  laws;  to  be  ready, 
even  at  much  personal  inconvenience,  to  aid  in  their  enforce- 
ment, if  you  are  called  upon  by  proper  officers;  and  to 
resent  with  indignation  every  sign  of  lawlessness  and  vio- 
lence, and  require  its  vigorous  suppression.     For  instance, 
if  a  riot  should  breakout  in  a  city  where  you  are  living,  you 
are  not  to  go  out  of  town  until  it  subsides,  but  you  are  to 
hasten  to  offer  your  support  to  the  authorities,  and  to  require 
their  prompt  and  decisive  action  to  restore  order. 

5.  Grand  or  Petit. — It  is  your  duty — if  you  are  a  voter 
— to  serve,  when  called  on,  as  a  grand  or  petit  juror  ;  and 
this  at  even  great  inconvenience. 

6.  Act  Generally  with    Some   Political  Party.— It   is 
your  duty  to  act  generally  with  some  political  party  and  to 
exert  your  influence  upon  its  leaders  to  induce  the  nomina- 
tion of  capable  and  honest  men  for  office.    And  it  is  your 
duty,  if  your  party  nominates  a  bad  man,  to  vote  against 
him  and  thus  keep  the  public  and  general  good  before  your 
eyes,  and  set  an  example  of  true  public  spirit  before  your 
fellows. 

7.  Watch  the  Conduct  of  Public  Officers.— It  is  your 
duty  to  watch  the  conduct  of  public  officers,  to  see  that  they 
perform  their  duties  and  observe  their  constitutional  limita- 
tions ;  and  if  they  do  not,  then  it  is  your  duty  to  help  to 


22  POLITICAL  TRAINING   FOR  THE   CITIZEN. 

expose  them  and  at  the  election  to  punish  them.  For  it  is 
only  by  such  vigilance  that  a  nation  can  preserve  its  liber- 
ties unimpaired.  These  are  your  political  duties,  which  you 
cannot  neglect  or  abjure  without  disgrace  to  yourself  and 
harm  to  the  country. 

8.  Party  Government. — As  party  government  is  inevi- 
table and  necessary  in  a  free  country,  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
citizen  to  attend  the  primary  meetings  of  the  party  with 
which  he  acts.  If  honest  and  intelligent  men  neglect  the 
primaries,  they  thereby  hand  the  control  of  their  party  ovar 
to  bad  men.  It  is  important  to  the  welfare  of  the  country 
that  all  the  political  parties  shall  be  controlled  by  wise 
and  honest  men;  for  a  corrupt  or  debased  minority 
can  offer  but  a  feeble  opposition  to  the  majority,  and  in 
reality  helps  to  strengthen  and  to  animate  the  majority; 
whereas  a  powerful,  honest  and  intelligent  minority  com* 
pels  the  majority  to  govern  carefully  and  honestly.  The 
demoralization  of  the  party  which  is  in  the  minority  may 
thus,  as  you  see,  bring  calamities  on  a  country. 


Political  Training  for  the  Citizen. 

1.  Duty  of  Citizens. — Since  any  male  citizen  of  suitable 
age  may  become  a  legislator    or  an    officeholder,  while 
every  citizen  has  an  appreciable  influence  upon  the  politi- 
cal life  of  his  neighborhood,  it  is  evident  that  every  citizen 
of  the  United  States  ought  to  have  some  intelligent  com- 
prehension not  only  of  the  essential  features  of  our  own 
government,  national,  state  and  local  or  municipal,  but  also 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  political  rights,  political 
economy  and  political  science. 

2.  Citizens  from  Two  Sources. — We  get  our  supply  of 
new  citizens  from  two  sources — immigration  and  the  grow- 
ing up  of  American  children.    We  are  all  keenly  alive  to  the 
dangers  that  threaten  our  government  when  ignorant  and 
immoral  foreigners  are  made  citizens  by  hundreds  and 
thousands.    Our  United  States  laws  are  explicit  in  requir- 
ing evidence  of  fitness  for  citizenship  before  naturalization 
papers  are  granted.     "  It  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  court  admitting  such  alien,  (a)  that  he 
has  resided  in  the  United  States  at  least  five  years,  (b)  and 
that  during  that  time  he  has  behaved  as  a  man  of  good 
moral  character,  (c)  attached  to  the  principles  of  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  (d)  and  well  disposed  to  the 
peace  and  good  order  of  the  same."    That  is  the  law. 


POLITICAL  TRAINING  FOR  THE   CITIZEN. 


23 


3.  Making  Citizens  of  Foreigners. — How  safe  we  should 
be  from  the  pernicious  effect  of  much  ignorance  and  vicious 
anarchism  which  now  trouble  us  if  committees  of  good  citi- 
zens had  attended  at  our  courts  of  naturalization  and  had 
forced  home  upon  the  consciousness  of  all  officers  of  the 


CHARLES  SUMNER, 
America's  Ablest  Statesman. 

law  who  have  power  to  grant  naturalization  papers,  the  will 
of  the  people,  that  this  wise  law  be  obeyed!  But  in  practice 
these  provisions  of  the  law  are  a  dead  letter,  as  any  one 
knows  who  has  sat  for  a  few  hours  in  any  of  our  large  cities 
and  has  -seen  the  purely  mechanical  method  of  making 
American  citizens  out  of  foreigners — ignorant,  reckless,  too 


24  POLITICAL  TRAINING  FOR  THE   CITIZEN. 

often  manifestly  immoral  and  besotted.  The  process  is 
"  mechanical,"  because  it  is  usually  conducted  in  the  interest 
of  one  or  the  other  of  the  party  "  machines."  By  its  agents 
the  machine  brings  these  undeserving  candidates  to  the 
court  and  pays  their  way  through,  that  it  may  "  vote  them  " 
afterward.  The  shame  and  the  danger  to  our  government 
are  manifest. 

4.  Obligations  of  State   and   School. — But  the  great 
majority  of  our  citizens  come  to  us  not  from  the  immigrant 
steamships,  but  from  the  public  schools!    What  are  our 
schools  doing  to  provide  the  United  States  with  citizens  in- 
telligent enough  upon  matters  political  and  patriotic  enough 
to  secure  the  permanent  success  of  our  form  of  government 
"by  the  people, for  the  people?" 

5.  Obligation  of  the  State. — The  obligation  of  the  state 
to  maintain  the  school  we  hear  often  enough  emphasized. 
Is  the  obligation  of  the  school  to  support  the  state  by  using 
all  right  means  to  train  good  citizens  as  frankly  recognized 
and  as  fairly  met  ?     In  our  school  system,  is  there  a  large 
enough  place  made  for  those  studies  which  promote  intelli- 
gent patriotism,  voluntary  obedience  to  law,  and  public- 
spirited  interest  in  public  affairs? 

6.  Germany's  Admirable  Plan. — In  Germany  it  became 
a  fundamental  maxim  of  state  policy  a  century  ago  "what 
you  would  have  come  out  in  the  life  of  a  nation  you  must 
put  into  the  schools  and  the  universities."    The  wonderful 
vigor  of  the  national  life  of  Germany  in  these  last  decades 
is  directly  traceable  to  her  observance  of  this  law  of  self- 
preservation  applied  by  the  state  to  Germany's  educational 
system,  in  which  patriotism  is  steadily  and  systematically 
inculcated,  and  in  the  fitting  of  young  men  for  the  proper 
discharge  of  public  duties  has  an  important  place. 

7.  Patriotism  the  Strength  of  a  Nation. — Of  our  forms 
of  government,  as  of  everything  else  that  is  precious  in  life, 
it  is  true  that  "if  we  would  preserve  it  we  must  love  it." 
And  intelligent  study  of  the  underlying  principles  of  gov- 
ernment will  stimulate  a  just  pride  in  our  own  form  of  gov- 
ernment and  will  furnish  a  rational  basis  and  a  sure  sup- 
port for  that  loyal  spirit  of  true  patriotism  which  is  the 
strength  of  a  nation. 

8.  The  Principles  of  Good  Citizenship.— All  colleges 
which  deserve  the  name  now  furnish  full  instruction  in  such 
themes.    But  important  as  is  the  influence  of  liberally  edu- 
cated men  upon  the  life  of  America,  it  is  but  a  small  per- 
centage of  our  voters  who  in  their  school  studies  reach  the 
college  course,  or  even  the  high  school.    It  is  most  im- 
portant that  all  citizens,  girls  and  boys  alike,  in  all  our 


POLITICAL  TRAINING  FOR  THE  CITIZEN.  25 

schools  should  have  elementary  instruction  in  the  principles 
of  good  citizenship.  It  is  the  mothers  of  our  boys  and  the 
early  school  life  of  our  boys  that  largely  determine  the  life- 
bias  toward  good  citizenship  or  bad  citizenship  for  the  great 
mass  of  our  voters. 

9.  Value  of  Good  Mothers. — An  intelligent,  public-spir- 
ited mother  is  almost  by  necessity  the  mother  of  patriotic 
sons  and  daughters.    Given  good  mothers  in  this  respect  and 
good  sons  follow.    To  the  ambitious  mother  who  asked  the 
witty  English  divine  "how  she  could  make  sure  that  her 
son  should  one  day  become  a  bishop,"  he  replied,  "  first  get 
him  born  right."    This  goes  to  the  root  of  the  matter.    And 
the  next  step,  that  we  may  have  as  many  boys  as  possible 
early  trained  in  the  principles  and  the  spirit  of  good  citi- 
zenship, is  to  see  that  mothers,  sisters  and  teachers  are 
intelligently  awake  to  the  reponsibility  of  residence  among 
a  self-governing  people.    The  girls  and  the  women  of  our 
country  should  be  (as  we  believe  many  of  them  are)  intel- 
ligent patriots,  with  clear  knowledge  and  sound  convictions 
upon  matters  of  public  interest  in  the  state. 

10.  School  Life  of  the  Boy.— In  his  school  life  the  con- 
ditions are  so  essentially  different  from  those  of  his  home 
life  that  the  boy  virtually  begins  his  social  Irfe  when  he 
enters  school.    At  home  in  the  family  love  self-denial  was 
the  law.     In  the  school,  as  in  the  state,  consideration    of 
justice,  of  equity,  of  impartiality,  must  have  the  first  place. 
"  What  relations  with  others,  my  equals,  are  possible  for 
me?"  is  the  question  the  schoolboy  is  practically  answering, 
day  by  day,  whether  or  not  he  puts  it  into  words.  .  The  way 
he  carries  himself  among  his  schoolmates,  the  standards  of 
honor  and  of  behavior  which  he  accepts  and  helps  to  form, 
will  go  with  him  through  life.     The  school  by  its  tone  and 
spirit,  as  well  as  by  its  studies,  determines  in  no  slight  degree 
the  nature  of  those  relations  with  his  fellows — relations  just 
and  harmonious,  or  selfish  and   discordant — which  are    to 
make  or  mar  his  life  as  man  and  citizen. 

11.  Responsibility    of   the    Teacher. — Teachers     with 
whom  rests  the  responsibility  of  fixing  these  standards  in 
school  life,  will  not  train  their  pupils  intelligently  for  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  citizenship  unless  they  have 
themselves  given  time  and  attention  and  loving  thought  to 
the  principles  of  sound  government  and  to  the  demands 
which  popular  government,  if  it  succeeds,  must  constantly 
make  upon  the  citizen  for  moral  thoughtfulness,  self-con- 
trol and  public  spirit.    The  study  of  the  history  of    pur 
country,  with  emphasis  upon  shining  examples  of  patriotism 
and  disinterested  goodness;  patriotic  songs  in  the  school- 


26  POLITICAL  TRAINING  FOR  THE  CITIZEN. 

room;  patriotic  selections  for  reading  and  declamation, 
these  help  to  form  the  true  spirit  and  tone  in  the  school. 
But  more  than  this  is  needed. 

12.  Begin  to  Teach  the  Citizen  Early.— There  should 
be  in  all  our  schools  (and  in  a  "  grade  "  not  so  far  advanced 
that  most  children  leave  school  before  they  reach  it)  simple, 
clear,  convincing  teaching  of  the  elementary  principles  of 
government;  of  the  purpose  and  design  of  law  and  govern- 
ment; of  the  ultimate  foundation  of  all  government  upon 


Washington  Resigning  His  Commission. 

justice,  equity,  righteousness,  upon  the  moral  law,  and  of 
the  supreme  authority  of  that  law  over  majorities  as  well  as 
minorities,  however  "  free  "  the  form  of  government  may  be. 
Every  young  citizen  should  early  be  taught  that  a  majority 
has  a  right  to  do  what  it  pleases  only  when  it  pleases  to  do 
what  is  right.  Even  in  his  early  school  diys  every  future 
citizen  should  learn  to  feel  the  solemn  responsibility  which 
rests  upon  every  citizen  of  a  free  state  to  govern  himself 
thoughtfully,  voluntarily  and  strictly. 


THE  YOUNG  STATESMAN'S  OPPORTUNITIES.         2T 

13.  Duty  of  Americans. — But  whatever  may  be  done  or 
/eft  undone  by  our  schools,  let  Americans  see  to  it  that  in 
the  great  system  of  public  schools  which  is  so  closely  con- 
nected with  our  national  life  there  be  early  introduced, 
steadily  pursued  and  strongly  emphasized,  such  studies  as 
tend  directly  to  make  moral,  intelligent,  loyal  citizens,  who 
understand  and  love  not  only  their  rights  but  also  their 
duties  as  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Our  highest  interests 
depend  upon  this.  Then  only  can  government  by  the  peo- 
ple be  carried  on  with  safety  to  the  people.  If  as  is  uni- 
versally conceded,  "Salus  populi  lex  suprema," — "The 
welfare  of  the  people  is  the  highest  law" — then  it  is  wisdom 
to  direct  the  peaceful  policy  of  national  education  so  as  to 
hold  sacred  this  maxim  in  moments  of  crises  and  manifest 
danger  to  the  state. 


The  Young  Statesman's  Opportuni- 
ties. 

1.  Political  Advantages.— What  our  country   at    the 
present  time  most  needs  is   more  thoroughly  honest,  com- 
petent and  educated  young  men.  Our  legislatures  are  made 
up  of  men  entirely  unfit  to  make  laws  for  the  state.    Our 
congressmen  seem  to  lose  sight  of  the  principles  of  patriot- 
ism and    statesmanship,    in    their    partisan    struggle    for 
supremacy  and  power.   In  every  department  of  government, 
both  legislative  and  executive,  there  is  not  only  room,  but  a 
serious  need  for  a  higher  ideal  of  statesmanship.    Every 
young  man  should  fit  himself  not  only  to  become  a  good 
citizen  who  can  vote  intelligently,  but  he  should  prepare 
himself  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  office.     It  is  uncer- 
tain when  he  may  be  called  upon  to  serve  the  people  in 
some  higher  capacity  than  private  citizenship.     This  coun- 
try is  rich  in  both  political  and  financial  opportunities. 
Every   young   man    should   become  familiar  with  its  past 
history  as  well  as  with  the  political  questions  of  the  day. 

2.  America  is  Another  Name  for    Opportunity. — Its 
whole  history  appears  like  a  last  effort  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence on  behalf  of  the  human  race.     To  have  the  age,  in 
which  so  much  has  been  done,  brought  to  the  intellectual 
conception  of  mankind  as  "  new  and  exceptional,"  was  a 
fine  literary  effort.     But,  above  all  these  things  to  have  it 
once  and  forever  realized,  not  only  by  the  people  here 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  SCIENTIST,  STATES- 
MAN, AND  PHILOSOPHER. 

28 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   FIRST  VOTE.  29 

themselves,  but  by  the  world,  that  "America  was  another 
name  for  Opportunity,"  imparted  a  comprehensive  sweep 
and  scope  to  the  idea  of  how  mankind  might  be  benefited 
by  this  gift,  in  this  age.  It  was  a  message  specially  designed, 
not  only  to  stimulate  the  people  of  the  continent  itself,  but 
to  notify  and  guide  the  rest  or  the  world  to  an  appreciation 
of  the  chances  of  success  that  awaited  them  here. 

The  Young  Man's  First  Vote. 

1.  More  than  One  Million  Young  Men  will  have  their 
first  opportunity  next  presidential  election  to  cast  a  vote  for 
a  president  of  the  United  States.     For  all  those  of  this  vast 
army  of  our  citizens  of  the  future  who  participate  in  the 
coming  election  it  will  be  their  first  entrance  into  national 
politics.    And  that  first  vote  weighs  many  times  as  much  as 
any  one  that  will  follow  it.     Of  itself  it  counts  no  more  in 
the  ballot-box  than  any  other  vote,  but  it  determines  largely 
the  character  of  those  that  will  come  after  it. 

2.  Man's  Conduct. — Man's  conduct  is  regulated  by  a 
great  variety  of  circumstances.     In  politics,  once  his  choice 
of  a  party   has  been  made,  his  associations,  his   pride   of 
opinion,  his  sentiment  of  lo\  alty,  all  combine  and  are  helped 
by  other  considerations   to  deter  him  from   changing  his 
party  relations. 

3.  Your  Political  Future. — Men  do  break  away  from 
their  early  political  associations,  but  they  are  exceptions. 
Consequently,  the  first  vote  will  probably  determine  your 
political  future.     See  that  you  make  the  right  choice  and 
ally  yourself  with  the  party  whose  history,  achievements, 
and  aims  attract  you  to  it. 

4.  Party  Changes. — Most  young  men    vote    as  their 
fathers  do.     They  are   Republicans,  Democrats,  Populists, 
or  Prohibitionists  because  their  fathers  are,  and  the  chances 
are  that  they  will  always  vote  that  ticket.     It  is  unfortunate 
that  so  little  independent  thinking  is  done.  The  few  furnish 
the  brains  and  the  argument  for  the  masses,  and,  conse- 
quently, the  country  is  cursed  with  bad  politics  and  badly 
enforced  laws.  * 

5.  The  Right  Principles. — Young  man,  think  for  your- 
self and  vote  your  convictions.     Look  over  the  field  and 
vote  for  the  best  men.     When  you  see  an  incompetent  or 
unworthy  man  on  your  ticket,  don't  vote  for  him.     Remem- 
ber that  no  party  can  rise  above  the  moral  character  of  the 
men  that  represent  its  principles.    Vote  for  good  men  re- 
gardless of  party,  and  you  will  do  your  duty  as  a  good  citi- 
zen.    Bad  men  must  be  kept  out  of  office.     If  your  party 
puts  up  an  unprincipled  man,  rebuke  the  party  by  refusing 
to  vote  for  him. 

3 


30 


CITIZENSHIP. 


fivi 


OUR  FOREIGN  FRIEND  FURNISHING  MUSIC 
FOR  THE  PUBLIC. 

Citizenship. 

A  citizen  is  a  person  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States.  Men,  women  and  children  are  citizens.  A  citizen 
of  the  United  States  residing  in  any  state  of  the  Union  is  a 
citizen  of  that  state.  Naturalization  conferring  citizenship 
is  a  federal  right,  and  is  a  gift  of  the  Union,  not  of  any  one 
state.  Citizenship  does  not  carry  with  it  the  right  to  vote. 
All  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  are  voters,  but  all 


NATURALIZATION   LAWS.  31 

voters  are  not   citizens.    (See  table  of  qualifications  for 
voters  on  another  page.) 


Naturalization   Laws   of  the   United 
States. 

The  conditions  under  and  the  manner  in  which  an  alien 
may  be  admitted  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
are  prescribed  by  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States. 

DECLARATION  OF  INTENTIONS. 

The  alien  must  declare  upon  oath  before  a  circuit  or 
district  court  of  the  United  States  or  a  district  or  supreme 
court  of  the  territories,  or  a  court  of  record  of  any  of  the 
states  having  common  law  jurisdiction  and  a  seal  and  clerk, 
two  years  at  least  prior  to  his  admission,  that  it  is,  bonafide, 
his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and 
to  renounce  forever  all  allegiance  and  fidelity  to  any  foreign 
prince  or  state,  and  particularly  to  the  one  of  which  he  may 
be  at  the  time  a  citizen  or  subject. 

OATH   ON   APPLICATION    FOR   ADMISSION. 

He  must  at  the  time  of  his  application  to  be  admitted  de- 
clare on  oath,  before  some  one  of  the  courts  above  specified, 
"that  he  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  he  absolutely  and  entirely  renounces  and  abjures 
all  allegiance  and  fidelity  to  every  foreign  prince,  potentate, 
state  or  sovereignty,  and  particularly,  by  name,  to  the 
prince,  potentate,  state,  or  sovereignty  of  which  he  was  be- 
fore a  citizen  or  subject,"  which  proceedings  must  be  re- 
corded by  the  clerk  of  the  court. 

CONDITIONS    FOR   CITIZENSHIP. 

If  it  shall  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court  to  which 
the  alien  has  applied  that  he  has  made  a  declaration  to  be- 
come a  citizen  two  years  before  applying  for  final  papers, 
and  has  resided  continuously  within  the  United  States  for  at 
least  five  years,  and  within  the  state  or  territory  where 
such  court  is  at  the  time  held  one  year  at  least;  and  that 
during  that  time  "he  has  behaved  as  a  man  of  good  moral 
character,  attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  well  disposed  to  the  good  order  and 
happiness  of  the  same,"  he  will  be  admitted  to  citizenship. 

TITLES   OF   NOBILITY. 

If  the  applicant  has  borne  any  hereditary  title  or  order 
of  nobility,  he  must  make  an  express  renunciation  of  the 
same  at  the  time  of  his  application. 


35>  NATURALIZATION  LAW* 

SOLDIERS. 

Any  alien  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and  upward  who 
has  been  in  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  and  has  been 
honorably  discharged  therefrom,  may  become  a  citizen  on 
his  petition,  without  any  previous  declaration  of  intention, 
provided  that  he  has  resided  in  the  United  States  at  least 
<  ne  year  previous  to  his  application,  and  is  of  good  moral 
character.  (It  is  judicially  decided  that  residence  of  one 
year  in  a  particular  state  is  not  requisite.) 

MINORS". 

Any  alien  under  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  who  has 
resided  in  the  United  States  three  years  next  preceding  his 
arriving  at  that  age,  and  who  has  continued  to  reside  therein 
to  the  time  he  may  make  apt.  lication  to  be  admitted  a  citizen 
thereof,  may, 'after  he  arrives  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  and  after  he  has  resided  five  years  within  the  United 
States,  including  the  three  years  of  his  minority,  be  admitted 
a  citizen;  but  he  must  make  a  declaration  on  oath  and  prove 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court  that  for  two  years  next  pre- 
ceding it  has  been  his  bona  fide  intention  to  become  a 
citizen. 

CHILDREN  OF  NATURALIZED  CITIZENS. 

The  children  of  persons  who  have  been  duly  naturalized, 
being  under  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  at  the  time  of 
naturalization  of  their  parents,  shall,  if  dwelling  in  the 
United  States,  be  considered  as  citizens  thereof. 

CITIZENS'  CHILDREN  WHO  ARE  BORN  ABROAD. 
The  children  of  persons  who  now  are  or  have  been  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  are,  though  born  out  of  the  limits 
and  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  considered  as  citizens 
thereof. 

CHINESE. 

The  naturalization  of  Chinamen  is  expressly  prohibited 

by  Section  14,  Chapter   126,  Laws  of  1882.     (See  note  on 
a  succeeding  page). 

PROTECTION  ABROAD  TO  NATURALIZED  CITIZENS. 

Section  2,000  of  the  Revised  Statues  of  the  United  States 
declares  that  "  all  naturalized  citizens  of  the  United  States 
while  in  foreign  countries  are  entitled  to  and  shall  receive 
from  this  government  the  same  protection  of  persons  and 
property  v/hich  is  accorded  to  native-born  citizens." 


THE    RIGHTS    OF    AN   AMERICAN    CITIZEN.  33 


Public   Punishment  in  Olden  Times. 

• 

The  Rights  of  an  American   Citizen. 

1.  Republican  Principles. — Under  this  head  the  Bill  of 
Rights  declares: 

That  all  power  is  inherent  in  the  people: 

That  governments  exist  for  their  good,  and  by  their 
consent; 

That  all  freemen  are  equal; 

That  no  title  or  nobility  shall  be  conferred; 

That  exclusive  privileges  shall  not  be  granted  except  in 
consideration  of  public  services; 

That  all  elections  shall  be  free  and  equal. 

2.  Personal  Security.— In   the   interest  of   the  personal 
security  of  the  citizen,  it  is  provided; 

That  the  people  shall  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers,  and  possessions,  from  unreasonable  seizures  and 
searches. 

That  warrants  to  seize  and  to  search  persons  and  things 
must  describe  them  by  oath  or  affirmation; 

That  there  shall  be  no  imprisonment  for  debts,  except 
in  case  of  fraud. 

3.  Private  Property.— To  secure  the  rights  of  private 
property,  the  bill  declares: 

That  private  property  shall  not  be  taken  for  public  use 
without  just  compensation; 

And  in  some  states  that  long  leases  of  agricultural  lands 
shall  not  be  made. 

4.  Freedom  of  Conscience. — To  induce  the  entire  free- 
dom of  conscience  of  the  citizen,  it  is  declared: 


34  THE  RIGHTS  OF   AN   AMERICAN   CITIZEN. 


LYNCH  LAW. 

Breaking:  Open  the  Jail  and  Publicly  Executing 
Two  Criminals. 

That  there  shall  be  perfect  religious  freedom,  but  not  cov- 
ering immoral  practices; 

That  there  shall  be  no  state  church; 

That  no  religious  test  shall  be  required  for  performing 
any  public  function; 

That  the  rights  of  conscience  are  free  from  human  control. 

5.  Freedom  of  Speech  and  of  the  Press. — To  maintain 
the  rightful  freedom  of  the  press,  the  bill  guarantees: 

That  printing  presses  may  be  used  by  all; 
That  every  citizen   may  freely  speak,  write,    and  print 
upon  any  subject,being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  the  right. 

6.  Freedom  of  Assembly. —  The  right  of  assembly  is 
secured  by  the  provision: 

That  the  people  may  peaceably  assemble  for  the  public 
good,  to  discuss  questions  of  public  interest;  and 

That  they  may  petition  the  government  for  redress  of 
grievances. 

7.  Rights  of  the  Accused. — Among  the  worst  abuses  of 
tyranny  in  all  ages  have  been  the  corruption  of  the  courts 
and  the  denial  of  the  rights  of  common  justice.    To  guard 
against  these  it  is  expressly  provided: 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  AN  AMERICAN  CITIZEN.  36 

That  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended 
except  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public 
safety  may  require  it; 

That,  except  in  capital  cases,  persons  charged  with  crime 
may  give  bail; 

That  no  excessive  bail  shall  be  required; 
That  all  courts  shall  be  open; 

That  the  accused  shall  have  a  speedy  trial  in  the  district 
in  which  the  offense  was  committed; 

That  the  ancient  mode  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  main- 
tained; but  civil  suits,  by  consent  of  the  parties  may  be 
tried  without  a  jury; 

That  all  persons  injured  in  lands,  goods,  person  or  repu- 
tation shall  have  remedy  by  course  of  law; 

That  the  accused  shall  be  informed  of  the  nature  of  the 
charges  against  him; 

That  he  shall  be  confronted  by  the  witnesses  against  him; 
That  he  shall  be  heard  in  his   own  defense,  and  may 
have  the  benefit  of  counsel; 

That  he  shall  not  be  required  to  testify  against  himself; 
That  he  shall  not  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or  prop- 
erty except  by  due  process  of  law; 

That  no  cruel  or  unusual  punishment  shall  be  inflicted; 
That  no  one  shall  be  twice  placed  in  jeopardy  for  the 
same  offense. 

8.  Rights. — All  citizens,  says  Peterman  in  his  civil 
government,  have  a  right  to  the  full  and  equal  protection 
of  the  laws.  Each  has  a  right  to  be  secure  in  his  person 

and  property;  to 
demand  that  the 
peace  be  pre- 
served; to  do  all 
things  according  to 
his  own  will,  pro- 
vided he  does  not 
trespass  upon  the 
rights  of  others. 
No  one  in  the  fam- 
ily, in  the  school, 
in  the  civil  district, 
in  the  country,  in 
the  state,  or  in  the 
nation  has  the 

THE  BEHEADING  BLOCK.  right  to  do  Or   Say 

anything  which 
interferes  with  the  life,  liberty,  property  or  happiness  of 
another.  Any  act  which  interferes  with  the  rights  of  others 


36  THE  RIGHTS  OF  AN  AMERICAN  CITIZEN. 

is  an  offense  against  the  common  good  and  against  the  law. 
It  is  chiefly  for  the  prevention  and  punishment  of  these 
unlawful  acts  that  the  civil  district  exists,  with  its  court  and 
its  officers. 

9.  Legal  Voters. — All  legal  voters  of  the  district  have 
the  right  to  participate  in  its  government  by  exercising  a 
free  choice  in  the  selection  of  its  officers,  except  in  states 
where  these  officers  are  appointed.  They  have  the  right  to 
cast  their  votes  without  fear  or  favor.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
important  and  sacred  rights  that  freemen  possess.  Free 
government  cannot  exist  without  it.  The  law  guarantees 
it,  and  all  the  power  of  the  state  may  be  employed  to  main- 
tain it.  Therefore-  whoever  prevents  a  voter  from  exercis- 
ing the  rights  of  suffrage  does  it  at  his  own  peril. 

10.  Duties. — Ac  the  citizens  of  the  civil  district  have 
rights,  they  also  have  corresponding  duties.     As  they  may 
demand  protection  and  the  preservation  of  the  peace,  so  it 
is  their  duty    to  obey    the    law    and    assist    the    officers 
in  its  enforcement,  in  order  chat  the  same  protection  may 
be  extended  to  the  whole  people.    Each  should  abstain 
from  ac-S  that  injure  others,  and  render  cheerful  aid  to  all 
in  secur.ng  their  rights  through  the  law. 

11.  Qualified  Voters. — All  qualified  voters  have  the  right, 
and  it  is  also  their  duty,  to  vote.  The  voters  elect  the  officers 
of  the  district,  and  are  therefore  its  rulers.     When  they  fail 
to  vote,  they  fail  to  rule,  fail  to  do  their  duty  to  the  people 
and  to  themselves.    The  duty  to  vote  implies  the  duty  to  vote 
right,  to  vote  for  good  men  and  for  good  measures.     There- 
fore, men  should  study  their  duty  as  voters  that  they  may 
elect  honest,  capable,  faithful  officers,  and  support  the  par- 
ties and  principles  that  will  best  promote  the  good  of  the 
country.     Every  man  should  study  his  political  duty  with 
the  best  light  that  he  can  obtain,  decide  what  is  right,  and 
then  vote  his  sentiments  honestly  and  fearlessly.     If  the 
district  has  good  government,  the  voters  deserve  the  credit; 
if  it  has  bad  government,  the  voters  deserve  the  blame, 


Mi 


OUR  CIVIL  AND  POLITICAL  RIGHTS. 


The  Home  of  the  First  Law  Maker  in  America. 


Our  Civil  and  Political  Rights. 

I.  Inalienable  Rights. — Our  civil  and  political  rights 
are  sometimes  called  inalienable  rights  because  they  can- 
not be  taken  away,  except  as  a  punishment  for  some  crime. 
They  are  our  natural  rights  and  are  not  conferred  by  any 
earthly  power,  but  are  given  to  every  human  being  at  his 
birth.  They  are: 

(1)  The  Right  to  Personal  Security;  that  is,  the  right  to 
be  free  from  attack  and  annoyance; 

(2)  The  Right  of  Personal  Liberty;   that  is,  to  go  when 
and  where  he  pleases,  providing  he  does  not  trespass  upon 
the  rights  of  others;  and 

(3)  The  Right  of  Private  Property;  that  is,  the  right  to 
use,  enjoy,  and  dispose  of  what  he  has  acquired  by  labor, 
purchase,  gift,  or  inheritance. 


OUR  CIVIL  AND   POLITICAL   RIGHTS, 


2.  Industrial  Rights. — It  is  the  right  and  duty  of  each 
person  to   provide   in   his  own   way,  providing  it  is  legal 

and  honest,  for 
himself  and 
those  depend- 
ent upon  him. 
All  business 
transactions, 
the  search  for 
homes,  com- 
forts,  and 
wealth;  agri- 
culture, manu- 
facturing, min- 
ing and  com- 
merce; the 
conduct  of  all 
professions.oc- 
cupations  and 
industries;  the 
interests  of 
farm  laborers, 
operatives  in 
factories,  min- 
ers, clerks,  and 

all  persons  engaged  in  mental  or  physical  labor  are  based 

upon  industrial  rights  and  duties. 

3.  Social  Rights. — Each  member  of  society  has  rights 
as  such,  and  these  are  called  social  rights'    They  include 
the  rights  of  personal  security  and  protection.    They  under- 
lie all  efforts  for  the  ^improvement  of  the  social  condition  of 
the  people.    Society  is  interested  in  better  schools,  in  public 
health,  in  the  reformation  of  criminals,  in  good   highways 
and  streets,  in  safe  buildings,  in  well-lighted  cities  and  vil- 
lages in  the  maintenance  of  charitable   institutions,  in  the 
establishment  of  sources  of  harmless  amusement,  and  in  the 
preservation  of  peace  and  order. 

4.  Right  of  Eminent   Domain. — This  right  of  society, 
existing  above  the  right  of  any  of  its  members,  is  called  the 
right  of  eminent  domain.    By  it  individual  rights  must  yield 
to  the  rights  of  society,  of  the  government,  or  of  a  corpora- 
tion.   A  corporation  is  an  association  of  individuals  author- 
ized by  law  to  do  business  as  a  single  natural  person.    Rail- 
,way  companies,  banks,  chartered  cities  and  villages,  and  the 
counties  of  some  states  are  corporations. 

5.  Moral  Rights. — Man  is  a  moral  being;  that  is,  he  is 
conscious  of  good  arid  evil.    Therefore  he  has  moral  rights 


HONEST   INDUSTRY. 


OUR  CIVIL  AND   POLITICAL  RIGHTS. 


39 


and  duties.  He  has  rights  of  conscience,  with  which  it  is 
not  the  province  of  government  to  interfere.  He  naturally 
worships  a  being  superior  to  himself,  and  feels  the  obliga- 
tion to  deal  justly  with  his  fellowmen.  He  has  a  right  tc 
do  so  and  say  all  things  which  are  not  unlawful  or  wrong 
within  themselves.  It  is  right  to  worship,  when  he  pleases, 
whom  he  pleases,  and  as  he  pleases. 


OUR  RIGHTS  "  CLAR  COMFORT.' 


40 


HOW   TO   BECOME   A   PUBLIC   SPEAKER, 


DANIEL  WEBSTER, 
Born  in  N.  H.;  1782,  Died   1852. 


How  to  Become  a  Public  Speaker, 

1.  Great  Orators. — It  must  be  remembered  that  great 
orators  who  have  astonished  the  world  with  their  cutting  wit 
and  power  of  words  were  once  obscure,  timid  and  bashful 
boys.    It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  the  most  of  the 
great  orators  of  the  past  came  from  the  humble  walks  of 
life,    They  were  not  born  in  palaces  nor  inherited  wealth 
nor  were   educated   in   luxury.    They  invariably  were  of 
poor  parentage,  but  self  made,  and  by  hard  struggle  and 
untiring  labor  they  worked  their  way  to  the  front. 

2.  Every    Young    Man's    Duty. — Every    young    man 
snould  be  able,  with  calmness  and  self-possession,  to  ei  press 
himself  in  public.    This  can  be  done  by  a  little  extra  prep« 
aration    and    study.      If    a    man    has   anything     to    say. 


HOW   TO   BECOME    A   PUBLIC   SPEAKER.  41 


JOHN  C.  CALHOUN. 
Born  in  S.  C.,   1782;  Died,  1852. 

and  knows  what  to  say,  he  may  experience  some  embar- 
rassment in  making  his  first  effort,  yet  he  can  always  ?ay  it 
with  credit  to  himself  and  to  his  friends.  The  great  trouble 
is  ignorance,  and  people  are  often  called  upon  to  say  some- 
thing in  public  when  they  have  nothing  to  say.  It  takes  a 
reading  and  thinking  man  to  speak  in  public.. 

3.  How  to  Prepare  for  Public  Speaking.— In  the  first 
place  get  ove-r  the  idea  that  you  will  never  be  called  upon 
to  say  something  in  public.  Overcome  this  thought,  and  it 
is  one  of  the  first  steps  toward  oratory.  It  will,  no  doubt, 
happen  many  times  in  the  course  of  your  lifetime  that  you 
will  be  called  upon  to  speak  in  a  public  gathering,  or  to 
preside  over  some  public  meeting.  Study  the  parliament- 


42  HOW   TO   BECOME   A   PUBLIC   SPEAKER. 


PATRICK  HENRY, 
Born  1736,  Died  1799. 

ary  laws  as  given  in  this  book,  and  it  will  be  a  great  acqui 
sition.  Read  the  papers,  the  magazines,  and  pick  out  parts 
and  portions  that  impress  you  and  study  them  so  that  you 
can  remember  them.  Study  the  papers  as  well  ks  read 
them,  and  discuss  the  prominent  subjects  or  topics  of  the 
day  with  your  friends.  It  is  wonderful  what  an  amount  of 
knowledge  you  can  gain  by  simply  improving  your  spare 
moments. 

4.  What  Books  to  Read. — Read  books  of  history,  read 
the  life  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  Matthews'  "Getting  On  in 
the  World;"  Smiles'  two  bookn  on  "Duty  and  Character;" 
Ridpath's  History  of  the  United  States;  Macaulay's  His- 
tory of  England;  Gibbon's  "Decline  and  Fall  of  Rome,"  and 
there  are  various  other  books  that  you  will  find  interesting, 
impressive,  and  highly  instructive.  Good  public  speakers 
ought  to  be  extensive  readers. 


HOW  TO   BECOME  A   PUBLIC   SPEAKER.  43 

5.  Writing. — You  should  sit  down  and  write  an  address 
or  essay  upon  some  subject  of  public  interest,  either  polit- 
ical, social,  or  otherwise.    Afterwriting  it  study  it  over  care- 
fully and  re-write  and  re-write  it  several  times;  after  each 
time  be  sure  to  study  it  over  carefully  and  find  parts  or  por- 
tions that  can  be  profitably  improved.     This  address   or 
essay  is  not  supposed  to  be  delivered  or  read,  though  it  is 
a  good  thing  to  keep  and   lay  away  for  future  reference. 
After  writing  a  few  of  these  addresses  and  committing  them 
to  memory  you  will  find  to  your  surprise  that  you  can  think 
better,  speak  better  and  write  better.     It  is  a  practice  that 
excels  all  other  methods  of  preparation. 

6.  Reading  and  Re-reading. — Next  in  value  to  the  fre- 
quent use  of  the  pen  is  the  practice  of  carefully  reading  and 
re-reading  the  best  prose  writers  and  poets,  and  committing 
their  finest  passages  to  memory,  so  as  to  be  able  to  repeat 
them  at  any  moment  without  effort.     The  advantages  of 
this  practice  are  that  it  not  only  strengthens  the  memory, 
but  fills  and  fertilizes  the  mind  with  pregnant  and  suggest- 
ive thoughts,  expressed  in  the  happiest  language,  stores  it 
with  graceful  images,  and,  above  all,  forms  the  ear  to  the 
rhythm  and  number  of  the  period  which  add  so  much  to  its 
impressiveness  and  force. 

7.  Melody. — It  is  the  melody  of  a  sentence  which,  so  to 
speak,  makes  it  cut,  which  gives  it  speedy  entrance  into  the 
mind,  causes  it  to  penetrate  deeply,  and  to  exercise  a  magic 
power  over  the  heart.     It  is  not  enough  that  the  speaker's 
utterances  impress  the  mind  of  the  hearer,  they  should  ring 
in  his  ears;  they  should  appeal  to  the  senses,  as  well  as  to 
the  feelings,  the  imagination,  and  the  intellect;  then,  when 
they  seize  at  once  on  the  whole  man,  on  body,  soul,  and 
spirit,  will  they  "swell  in  the  heart  and  kindle  in  the  eyes,"' 
and  constrain  him,  he  knows  not  why,  to  believe  and  to 
obey. 

8.  Oratorical    Moulds.  —  Let  the  student  of  oratory, 
__  then,  brood  over  the  finest  passages  of  English  composi- 
"  tion,  both  prose  and   poetry,  in  his   leisure  hours,  till   his 

mind  is  surcharged  with  them;  let  him  read  and  re-read 
the  ever-varied  verse  of  Shakespeare,  the  majestic  and 
pregnant  lines  of  Milton,  the  harmonious  and  cadenced 
compositions  of  Bolingbroke,  Gratton,  Erskine,  Curran, 
and  Robert  Hall.  Let  him  dwell  upon  these  passages 
and  recite  them  till  they  almost  seem  his  own,  and 
insensibly,  without  effort,  he  will  "form  to  theirs  the  relish 
of  his  soul,"  and  will  find  himself  adopting  their  language 
and  imitating  them  instinctively  through  a  natural  love  for 
the  beautiful,  and  the  strong  desire  which  every  one  feels 


44  PARLIAMENTARY    LAWS. 

to  reproduce  what  is  pleasing  to  him.  By  this  process  he 
will  have  prepared  in  his  mind,  so  to  speak, a  variety  of 
oratorical  moulds,  of  the  most  exquisite  shape  and  pattern, 
into  which  the  stream  of  thought,  flowing  red-hot  and  mol- 
ten from  a  mfnd  glowing  with  fire  of  declamation,  will  be- 
come fixed,  as  metal  in  a  foundry  takes  the  form  of  a  noble 
or  beautiful  statue. 

PARLIAMENTARY   LAWS. 

How  to  Conduct  a  Public  Meeting;  How  to  Organize  a 
Debating  Society  or  Other  Literary  Organizations. 

1.  The  Ignorance   of  Parliamentary  Laws. — It  is  sur- 
prising to  see  Low  f<.w  people  understand  the  simple  prin- 
ciples of  parliamentary  laws.     How  often  is  a  person  called 
t;.  pres  de  in  public  meetings  or  is  called  up  to  take  the 
•  hair  in  a  social  gathering  when  1  e  is  emirely  ignorant  of  the 
first  principles  of  a  presiding  officer.     He  is  embarrassed, 
stammers,  and  his  conduct  becomes  painful   to  his  friends. 
A  little  study  on  the  part  t  f  the  person  will  sufficiently 
qualify  him  to  carry  out  the  duties  of  a  presiding  officer 
with  dignity  and  satisfaction  to  all. 

2.  How  to  Organize  a  Public  Meeting,   Occasional  or 
Mass  Meeting. — The  first  thing  to  be  done  in  a  common 
meeting  is  to  organize.     The    time  appointed  having  ar- 
rived, some  one  calls  the  meeting  to  order,  and  moves  that 
A.,  B.  or  C.  act  as  chairman  of  this  meeting.     If  this  motion 
fails  another  is  nominated  till  a  chairman  is  obtained  and 
takes  the  chair.     The  next  business  is  the  election  of  a  sec- 
retary.    The  chairman  calls  for  nomination,  which  being 
made  and  seconded  the  vote  is  taken.    The  secretary  being 
elected,  no  other  officers  are  usually  necessary  in  a  meeting 
of    this   kind.    The   chairman   asks    what    is    the  further 
pleasure  of  the  meeting,  when  some  one  of  those  at  whose 
instance  the  meeting  has  been  called  rises  and  states  the 
object  of  the  meeting,  or  better  still,  introduces  a  resolution 
previously  prepared  to  express  the  sense  of  the  meeting  on 
i  be  subject  which  has  called  them  together. 

3.  Main  Question. — All  business  should  be  introduced 
by  a  motion  or  resolution.     This  is  called  the  "  Main  Ques- 
tion," or  "  Principal  Motion."     When  a  motion  of  this  kind 
is  pending.no  other  principal  motion  can  be  introduced.  But 
there  are  certain  other  motions  which  would  be  in  order,  and 
in  reference  to  some  of  these-still  other  motions  would  be  in 
order,  while  the  main  question  is  still  pending.  Some  of  these 
must  be  seconded,  others  need  not  be:  some  can  be  amended, 


PARLIAMENTARY   LAWS. 


45 


Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  of  N.  Y.,  Chairman  of  the 
State  Convention  of  1  895. 

others  can  not;  some  can  be  debated,  others  can  not;  to 
some  the  previous  question  applies,  to  others  it  does  not; 
some  can  be  laid  on  the  table,  committed,  postponed  defi- 
nitely or  indefinitely,  others  can  not;  some  can  be  reconsid- 
ered, others  can  not;  some  require  a  two-thirds  vote,  others 
are  decided  by  simply  a  majority. 

4.  A  Meeting  of  Delegates. — When  the  members  of  an 
assembly  have  already  been  appointed,  the  first  business 
after  a  temporary  organization,  effected  as    above,  is    to 
appoint  a  committee  on  credentials  to  ascertain  who  are 
properly    members  of  the    meeting.    Then    proceed  to  a 
permanent  organization,  and  the  business  of  the  meeting. 

5.  Privileged  Motions. — So  called  because  on  account 
of  their   importance,  they   take  precedence  of  all  other 
questions. 


4t>  PARLIAMENTARY  LAWS. 

6.  Incidental  Motions.— Incidental  motions  such  as  are 
incident  to,  or  grow  out  of  other  questions,  and  must  there- 
fore be  decided  before  the  questions  which  give  rise   te 
them. 

7.  Subsidiary  Motions. — Subsidiary  motions,  or  such  as 
are  applied  to  other  motions  for  the  sake  of  disposing  of 
them  in  some  other  way  than  by  direct  adoption  or  rejection. 

8.  The  Main  Question. — The  main  question  which  has 
already  been  spoken  of. 

9.  Miscellaneous    Motions. — Miscellaneous     motions, 
under  which  head  come  the  motions,  "To  Reconsider,"  "T« 
Fill  Blanks,"  and  "  To  Renew  a  Motion." 

By  this  is  meant  that  any  motion  in  the  2d,  3d,  and  4th 
classes  yield  to  any  motion  in  the  1st  class;  the  3d  and  4th 
yield  to  the  1st  and  2d;  and  the  4th  to  the  1st,  2d  and  3d. 
This  is  the  general  rule;  but  it  is  subject  to  some  modifier 
tions,  as  will  hereafter  appear. 

10.  The  Privileged  Motions.— The  privileged  motions 
in  the  order  of  their  precedence  are: 

1.  To  fix  the  time  to  adjourn.3.    Questions  of  privilege. 

2.  To  adjourn  «*-4.    Orders  of  the  dav. 

n.  The  Motion  to  Fix  the  Time  to  Which  to  Ad- 
journ.— The  motion  to  fix  the  time  to  which  to  adjourn  is 
not  a  motion  to  adjourn,  but,  as  its  name  signifies,  is  simply 
a  motion  to  fix  the  time  to  which  the  adjournment  will 
stand,  when  the  motion  to  adjourn  is  carried.  Its  form  is 
"I  move  that  when  we  adjourn  we  adjourn  to"  such  a  date 
or  "to  meet  again  at"  such  a  date,  naming  the  date.  It 
takes  precedence  of  all  other  motions,  and  is  in  order  even 
after  the  vote  to  adjourn  is  taken,  if  the  result  has  not  been 
stated  by  the  chair. 

12.  The  Motion  to  Adjourn. — The  motion  to  adjourn 
takes  precedence  of  all  motions  except  the  foregoing,  to 
which  it  yields ;  tha  t  is  to  say,  it  may  be  made  when  any  other 
motion  is  pending  except  the  motion  to  fix  the  lime  of  adjourn- 
ment, but  cannot  be  made  when  this  latter  motion  is  pending. 

13.  Questions  of  Privilege. — These  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  "Privileged  Questions."     The  latter  embrace 
the   whole   list   of    motions   in  this   class;    the  former    is 
only  one  species  in  the  class.    As  examples  of  questions 
of  privilege  the  following  may  be  mentioned:     Whether 
disorder  shall  be  restrained;  whether  an  open  window  en- 
dangering the  health  of  any  one  may  not  be  closed;  whether 
charges  against  the  official  character  of  any  member  shall 
be  allowed,  etc.,  etc.    The  form  of  raising  this  question  is 
(addressing  the  chair  and  obtaining  the  floor),  "  I  rise  to  a 
question  of  privilege."     The  chair  requests  the  member  to 
state  his  question;  then  he  decides  whether  it  is  a  question 
of  privilege  or  not. 


THOMAS  BRACKETT  REED,  of  Maine, 

Speaker  of  House  of  Representatives  54th  Congress, 
and  Republican  Orator. 


14.  Orders  of  the  Day. — This  expression  is    used    to 
designate    those    subjects    the  consideration  of  which  has 
been  assigned  to  a  particular  time.    When  it  is  desirable  io 
consider  a  subject  at  some  future  time  the  motion  is  made 
that  such  a  subject  be  made  "the  order  of  the  day"  for  such 
a  time,  fixing  the  precise  time;  or,  if  a  regular  business  has 
been  made  the  general  order  for  such  time,  that  the  subject 
be  made  the  "special  order."    It  requires  a  two-thirds  vote 
to  make  a  subject  a  special  order;  but  when  so  made  it 
takes  precedence  of  the  general  order. 

15.  Incidental  Motions. — The  incidental  motions  in  the 
order  of  precedence  are  as  follows: 

1.  Appeal  (Questions  of  order). 

2.  Objections  to  considering  a  question. 

3.  Reading  of  papers. 

4.  Withdrawing  a  motion. 

5.  Suspension  of  the  rules. 

47 


48  PARLIAMENTARY  LAWS. 

16.  Appeal  (Questions  of  Order).— A  member  detecting 
any  disorder  in  the  proceedings  of  the  assembly,  or  the 
deportment  or  decorum  of  members  which  he  wishes  to 
correct,  he  obtains  the  floor  and  says,  "I  rise  to  a  point  of 
order."     The  chairman  responds,  "Please  state  your  point 
of  order."  _  After  it  is  stated,  the  chairman  decides  whether 
the  point  is  well  taken  or  not.     From  this    decision    any 
member  may  appeal  by  saying,  "I  appeal  from  the  decision 
of  the  chair."     If  any  one  seconds  this  appeal,  the  chairman 
at  once  stateS(the  question  "Shall  the  decision  of  the  chair 
be  sustained,"  and  immediately  puts  it  to  vote.     It  cannot 
be  debated  when  it  relates  simply  to  decorum,  transgression 
of  rules,  priority  of  business,  or  while  a  previous  question  is 
pending. 

17.  Objections   to   Considering  a  Question. — When   a 
member  announces  that  he  objects  to  the  consideration  of 
any  question,  the  chairman  immediately  puts  to  vote  the 
propositions,  "Shall  the  question  be  discussed?"   If  decided 
in  the  affirmative,  the  decision  goes  on;  but  if  decided  in  the 
negative,  the  whole  matter  is  dismissed  for  that  session. 

18.  Reading  of  Papers. — Every  member  has  the  right 
to  have  a  paper  read  before  voting  upon  it.     When  any  one 
calls  for  the  reading  of  a  paper,  the  chairman  immediately 
orders  it  read  if  no  one  objects.     If  objection  is  made,  the 
question  whether  it  shall  be  read  or  not  must  be  put  to  vote 
without  debate  or  amendment. 

19.  Withdrawal  of  a  Motion. — The  person  who  makes 
a  motion  can  withdraw  it  if  no  objection  is  made.     If  objec- 
tion is  made  to  the  withdrawal  of  a  motion,  the  question 
whether  it  shall  be  withdrawn  or  not  must  be  decided  by 
vote.     It  cannot  be  debated  or  amended. 

20.  Suspension  of  the  Rules. — When  it  is  desired  for 
any  purpose  to  suspend  the  rules,  the  form  of  the  motion  is, 
"to  suspend  the  rules  which  interfere  with,"  etc.,  specify- 
ing the  object  of  the  suspension.     It  cannot  be  debated, 
cannot  be  reconsidered,  nor  have  any   subsidiary   motion 
applied  to  it;  and  it  requires  a  two-thirds  vote.     A  motion 
to  suspend  for  the  same  purpose  cannot  be  regarded. 

21.  Subsidiary  Motion. — This  is  as  important  a  class 
of  motions  as  any  in  the  whole  list,  and  a  class  more  fre- 
quently  used   than  any    others.      The  subsidiary  motions 
are  the  following: 

1.  To  lay  on  the  table.  4.  To  commit. 

2.  The  previous  question.  5.  To  amend. 

3.  To  postpone  to  a  certain  day .6.  To  postpone  indefinitely. 

These  motions  stand,  with  respect  to  each  other,  in  the 
order  of  precedence  here  given. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Our  Country  and   Its  People—Origin 
and  Development. 


Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  the  Place  where 
the  American  Republic  was  Born,  July  4,  1776. 

The  Story  of  American  Independence 

and  the  Origin  of  the  First 

Congress. 

1.  Continental    Congress.— This  was  on  the   10th  of 
May,   1775,  with  Lexington  a  few  weeks   earlier,   Burikcr 
Hill  a  few  weeks  later,  and  the  "Declaration  of  Indepen  1- 
ence"  fourteen  months  in  the  future.     But  there  was  a  "Con- 
tinental Congress."     It  had  existed  since  the  5th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1774. 

2.  Independence. — How  came  Congress  to  assemble  on 
that  5th  day  of  September,  1774?    Independence  was  not 
thought  of  by  the  people.     The  idea  would  have  been  pain- 

ful  if  entertained,   Qr  tf  entertained,  it  woui4  kave  been  re- 

49 


50  STORY  OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

jected  as  undesirable.  To  be  sure,  the  struggle  was  already 
a  fierce  one,  but  it  was  for  the  rights  of  the  people  as  Eng- 
lish subjects.  Why  did  a  Congress  assemble? 

3.  The  Declaration  of  Independence. — Results  appear 
with  suddenness.    We  must  look  far  back  for  the  prepara- 
tives which  slowly,  tediously  evolve    and    mature    them. 
The  Declaration  or   Independence  burst  on  the  world  per- 
fected, like  Minerva  from  the  brain  of  Jupiter,  but  it  took  a 
century  and  a  half  of  pregnant  events  to  bring  this  about. 
The  general  reader — indeed,  often  the  interested  student — 
is  apt  to  commence  the  investigation  of  the  occurrences 
which  precipitated  the  great  war  for  liberty,  if  not  with  the 
event  of  July  4, 1776,  certainly  no  farther  back  than  the 
passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  or  of  its  repeal,  or  the  story  of 
the  "tea  party"  in  Boston  Harbor.    Yet,  if  any  part  cf  our 
history  is  to  be  omitted  or  lightly  passed  over  by  young  or 
old  in  comparison,  one  portion  with  the  other,  let  every  soul 
in  this  country  in  preference  master  the  account  in  all  its 
details  of  the  colonizing  of  the  thirteen  original  states,  and 
understand  what  the  people  had  to    contend   with    in    a 
hundred  different  shapes,  and  how  famine,  pestilence,  con- 
tests with  Indians,  dreadful  as  they  were,  came  to  be  less 
feared,  because  of  less  importance,  than  the  attempts  of  the 
rulers  of  the  land  from  whence  they  came  to  subject  them 
to  the  tryanny  of  arbitrary  power. 

4.  The  Thirteen  Original  States. — The  thirteen  origi- 
nal states  were  colonized  by  people  of  various  origin,  of 
every  form  of  religious  faith  and  belief,  and  of  different 
nationalities.    There  were  Swedes  in  Delaware,  there  were 
Germans  in  Pennsylvania,  the  Dutch  were  in  New  York. 
There  were  the  Catholics  in  Maryland  and  Delaware,  the 
Quakers  in  Pennsylvania,  the  Church  of  England  men  in 
Virginia  and  the  South,  the  Huguenots  in  New  York,  the 
Pilgrims  in  Massachusetts,  the  Liberals  in  Rhode  Island, 
the  Non-conformists  everywhere.    You  can  hardly  imagine 
a  greater  mixture  of  origin,  habits,  caste,  religious  belief, 
and  religious  dissent  than  was  to  be  found  among  the  first 
settlers  of  the  United  States.    Yet  it  turned  out  that  some 
marvelous  power  of  cohesion,  when  the  hour  of  trouble 
came  to  one  extremity  of  the  land,  bound  all  together  in  ties 
so  strong  that  they  could  not  even  be  disturbed  by  the 
ordinary  differences  and  discussions  which  separate  and 
keep  apart  communities  of  different  customs  and  associa- 
tions. 

5.  Came  Not  For  Gold. — The  colonies   did  not  come 
to  these  shores  in  search  for  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  nor 
to  fish,  nor  to  proselyte  the  Indians.     They  came  mainly 


STORY  OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 


51 


for  a  home.  This  applies  equally  to  the  cavaliers  in 
Virginia  and  the  hardy  pioneers  at  Plymouth.  They  all 
loved  the  land  they  left  behind  them.  It  was  the  home  of 
their  fathers,  and  had  been  their  home  until  they  quitted  it. 
Besides,  their  friends  and  their  kindred  were  still  there. 
But  when  they  embarked  they  took  with  theni  no  crown 
with  which  to  establish  and  perpetuate  a  divine  right. 
Obligation  to  the  King  was  acknowledged  cheerfully, 
especially  where  the  territory  was  taken  under  a  loyal  grant; 
out  the  colonists  did  not  occupy  themselves  with  any  rights 
>»f  kings.  One  and  all  claimed  political  freedom  of  origi- 
nal organization. 


The  Desk  on  which  Jefferson  Wrote  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence. 


6.  The  First  Bond. — Here  was  the  first  bond  of  union. 
Each  colony  was  established  under  circumstances  essen- 
tially differing  the  one  from  the  other.  But  in  everyone, 
sooner  or  later,  difficulties  arose  touching  the  royal  authority 
over  them.  In  many,  especially  New  England,  the  colonies 
were  left  to  themselves  to  frame  their  own  government, 
which  for  many  years  was  that  of  the  people  assembled  in 
town  meeting,  till  the  population  became  too  large,  and 
then  representatives  were  chosen.  In  fact,  civil  govern- 
ment was  established  by  common  consent  on  shipboard  by 


52 


STORY  OF  AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE. 


the  Pilgrims  and  a  governor  chosen.  It  was  not  till  the 
success  of  the  colonies  attracted  the  cupidity  of  the  rulers 
at  home  that  charters  were  created,  many  liberal  in  their 
terms,  and  governors  appointed. 

7.  First  Encroachments. — At  the  very  first  certain 
resolutions  were  adopted  which  controlled  every  one  of  the 
colonies.  First  was  that  of  representation  and  trial  by  jury; 
second,  that  which  provided  that  no  taxes  or  impositions 


Patrick  Henry  Addressing  the  Continental 
Congress  in  1  774. 


should  be  levied  upon  the  colonists,  their  land  or  commodi- 
ties, without  the  consent  of  the  people  through  the  action  of 
the  General  Assembly,  the  taxes  to  be  levied  and  employed 
as  the  assembly  should  appoint.  The  form  of  these  resolu- 
tions varied  in  the  different  colonies,  but  in  all  the  sub- 
stance was  identical.  The  reader  will  at  once  perceive  that 
when  Parliament  undertook  as  against  any  one  colony  tg 


54  STORY  OP  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

trench  upon  these  essential  rights — rights  which  the  people 
insisted  on  as  English  subjects  under  the  English  Constitu- 
tion— all  the  colonies  naturally  took  the  alarm,  sympathiz- 
ing practically  with  the  aggrieved  member.  At  first  and  for 
many  years  the  encroachments  were  moderated.  They  were 
resisted  vigorously  from  the  start,  and  generally  with  suc- 
cess. From  north  to  south,  mean  while,  the  people' were  from 
time  to  time  harassed  by  inroads  of  hostile  Indians,  so  that 
every  community  on  these  occasions  became  an  armed 
camp,  and  the  men,  warriors.  Their  dreadful  perils  from  a 
common  enemy  formed  another  bond  of  fraternal  sympathy 
between  the  different  sections.  During  the  hundred  years 
succeeding  the  year  1664  (when  the  whole  territory  forming 
the  original  United  States  came  under  the  control  of  Eng- 
land) Great  Britain  was  engaged  in  wars  with  different  con- 
tinental nations  a  large  proportion  of  the  time,  and  when 
not  so  engaged  the  condition  was  that  of  suppressed  war, 
often  worse  than  war  itself. 

8.  Increasing  Prosperity. — The  American  colonies  had 
increased  in  population;  they  were  already  very  consider- 
ably engaged  in  trade  and  commerce*.    The  tobacco  of  Vir- 
ginia, the   cotton  and  rice  of  the  South,  were  sources  of 
increasing  prosperity.  Then  began  to  be  agitated  the  ques- 
tion of  taxation,  of  restriction  on  the  commerce  of  the  colo- 
nies,   of    duties   to   be    levied  on  imports.    The   story  is 
familiar  to  us.     The  passage  of  the  infamous  Stamp  Act, 
opposed  by  the  best  and  noblest  of  the  British  Parliament, 
aroused  the  intense  indignation  of  the  colonies  through  their 
entire  extent. 

9.  The  Stamp  Act. — The  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act 
stirred  the  people  as  they  had  never  been  stirred  before.    It 
was  on  the  memorable  8th  of  March,  1765,  that  the  act  was 
passed,  and  it  was  to  take  effect  on  the  1st  day  of   Novem- 
ber following.   .  By  the  terms  of  this  act  no  legal  instrument 
in  writing  of  any  sort,  no  matter  how  insignificant,  should 
be  valid  without  a  government  stamp,  and  an  elaborate  scale 
of  prices  for  the  different  stamps  was  ^iven  in  detail.     The 
first  of  November  (when  the  Stamp  Act  was  to  go  into  oper- 
ation as  a  law)  was  ushered  -in  at  Boston  by  the  tolling  of 
bells  and  other  mournful  tokens.     Similar  demonstrations 
took  place  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  in  other 
towns. 

10.  A  Large  Funeral  Procession. — The  town  of  Ports- 
mouth, in  New  Hampshire,  has  unquestioned  precedence  in 
these  exhibitions,  both  by  the  originality  of  their  conception 
and  by  the  genuine  earnestness  with  which  the  proceedings 
were  conducted.    A  large  funeral  procession  assembled,  as 


STORY  OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  55 

if  to  follow  a  dear  departed  friend  to  the  grave.  A  coffin 
handsomely  constructed,  inscribed  with  the  word  Liberty, 
was  carried  to  the  spot.  Minute  guns  were  fired.  An  ora- 
tion, eulogistic  of  the  virtues  of  the  deceased,  was  pro- 
nounced. Here  we  must  record  a  marvelous  event.  The 
oration  was  scarcely  ended  and  just  as  the  coffin  was  about 
to  be  lifted  some  tokens  of  life  were  perceived.  Instantly 
the  entire  scene  was  transformed;  hearty  congratulations 
were  exchanged,  then  the  bells  pealed  forth  a  joyful  sound, 
and  demonstrations  of  satisfaction  were  everywhere  exhib- 
ited. It  is  stated  by  an  old  historian  that  decorum  and  reg- 
ularity marked  all  these  proceedings. 


The  Old  Chair  Used  by  the  First  Congress. 

ii.  The  Provisions  of  the  Stamp  Act. — The  provisions 
of  the  Stamp  Act  were  evaded  throughout  the  entire  land  by 
common  consent.  Documents  and  agreements  passed  be- 


56  STORY  OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

tween  the  people  without  the  stamp.  In  fact,  it  would  havft 
deserved  opprobrium  to  have  used  one,  and  on  the  18th  of 
March,  1766,  the  act  was  repealed.  It  was  not  repealed  in 
acknowledgment  of  the  American  principle,  but  rather  as  a 
measure  which  proved  absolutely  impracticable. 

12.  Act  to  Levy  a  Tax.— The  triumph  of  the  colo- 
nies was  short-lived.    In  1767  the  British  Parliament  passed 
an  act  to  levy  a  tax  or  duty  on  glass,  tea,  paper,  painters' 
colors,  etc.,  besides  an  oppressive  revenue  law  touching 
importations.    This  revived  the  agitation  with   a  tenfold 
vehemence.    Committees  of  correspondence  again  set  to 
work.  Non  -importation  and  non-consumption  societies  were 
formed.    In  short,  every  method  was  set  on  foot  to  resist 
the  operation  of  the  act  except  that  of  open  rebellion  to  it. 

13.  Anti-Tea-Drinking. — The  colonies  would   not  ac- 
cept the  situation.    Anti-tea-drinking  societies  were  formed. 
The  great  East  India  Company  took  part  in  the  contest, 
and  petitioned  the  King  for  a  repeal  of  the  tax.  The  petition 
was  unheeded.    On  the  contrary,  the  King  declared  "there 
should  always  be  one  tax  to  keep  up  the  right  of  taxing/' 
The  rest  of  the  story  is  well  known.    Ships  loaded  with  teas 
were  sent  to  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Charles- 
ton.    In  New  York  and  Philadelphia  the  ships  weie  not  per- 
mitted to  enter  their  cargoes,  but  were  compelled  to  return 
with  them  to  England.     In  Charleston  the  tea  was  landed 
and  stored  on  an  assurance  that  it  would  not  be  offered  for 
sale,  and  the  agreement  was  kept.     In  Boston  there  was  a 
military  force  strong  enough  to  compel  compliance  with  the 
law.    This  led  to  the  destruction  of  the  cargoes  of  both  ves- 
sels by  citizens  disguised  as  Indians. 

14.  King  and  Parliament. — King  and  Parliament  re^ 
ceived  tidings  of  the  event  with  amazement.     Such  auda- 
cious   acts    merited    swift    and    ample  punishment.    The 
inhabitants  of  Boston  must  be  taught  by  the  severest  meth- 
ods not  to  set  the  law  at  defiance.    The  measure  adopted 
by  Parliament  was  indeed  a  cruel  and  complete  one.    On 
the  7th  of  March,  1774,  the  "Boston  Port  Bill"  was  passed, 
which  closed  the  town  as  a  port  of  entry,  and  transferred  all 
the  maritime  business  to  Salem. 

15.  Financial  Ruin. — It  is  difficult  to  figure  the  financial 
ruin  which  the  act  brought  upon  the  business  men,  and  the 
want  and  distress  which  it  entailed  on  the  inhabitants.    It 
is  still  more  difficult  to  figure  the  flame  which  was  kindled 
in  the  breast  of  every  person  throughout  the  widely  ex- 
tended provinces.    It  is  not  difficult  to  record  and  transmit 
the  events  which  took  place,  but  the  agitation  of  the  public. 
mind  can,  never  be  adequately  de^cribed*  or,  in  tact,  com 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.         57 

prehended.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  from  New 
Hampshire  to  Georgia,  were  carried  away  in  this  tremen- 
dous upheaving;  not  the  young  and  impetuous  only — in  fact, 
net  the  fiery  and  impetuous  so  much  as  the  aged  and 
temperate  were  aroused  by  this  revengeful  and  merciless 
blow  inflicted  on  the  town  of  Boston.  This  answers  our 
question,  "How  came  a  Congress  to  assemble  on  the  5th  of 
September,  1774?" 


The  Story  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. 

The  first  suggestion  of  American  independence  was  made 
in  England.  In  the  London  Chronicle,  October  25, 1774,  an 
elaborate  article  appeared  entitled  "American  Independ- 
ence the  Interest  and  Glory  of  Great  Britain."  It  was 
reprinted  in  the  Pennsylvania  Journal,  but  there  was 'no 
response.  Attachment  to  the  mother  country  suiyived  the 
tea  riots  of  that  year,  and  in  March,  1775,  Franklin  informed 
Lord  Chatham  that  he  had  never  heard  an  opinion  looking 
toward  independence  from  any  American, "  drunk  or  sober. ' 
But  the  "  massacre  at  Lexington,'1  as  the  first  collision  (April 
19,  1775)  was  called,  moved  the  country  to  indignation.  m  It 
was  an  illustration  of  how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kin- 
dleth»  A  few  villagers  under  Captain  Parker  (grandfather 
of  Theodore  Parker,  who  kept  the  captain's  musket  on  his 
wall)  met  the  English  troops.  Parker  had  warned  them  not 
to  fire  unless  fired  on,  but  one  could  not  restrain  himself; 
his  gun  missed  fire  but  the  flash  brought  a  volley  from  the 
Englishmen,  and  independence  was  potentially  written  in 
the  blood  of  the  seven  men  who  ware  left  dead  in  Lexing- 
ton. A  few  days  after  the  tidings  reached  Philadelphia 
appeared  the  April  number  of  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine, 
edited  by  Thomas  Paine.  It  contained  a  summary  of  Chat- 
ham's speech,  in  which  he  said  the  Crown  would  lose  its 
luster  if  "robbed  of  so  principal  a  jewel  as  America." 
Paine  adds  this  footnote:  "  The  principal  jewel  of  the  Crown 
actually  dropped  out  at  the  coronation,"  This  little  foot- 
note was  probably  the  nearest  approach  to  a  suggestion  of 
independence  made  by  any  American  even  then.  And 
among  all  the  fiery  meetings  held  throughout  the  colonies 
only  one  ventured  to  utter  the  word  independence.  From 
the  county  of  Mecklenburg,  North  Carolina,  came  resolu- 
tions passed  May  31  and  June  10^  1775,  demanding  th'* 


58  DECLARATION  OP  INDEPENDENCE. 

organization  of  an  independent  government.  Congress 
would  not  allow  such  treasonable  resolutions  to  be  read 
before  it,  and  the  written  records  were  lost.  Jefferson  pro- 
nounced the  Mecklenburg  resolutions  mythical.  But  lately 
a  copy  of  the  South  Carolina  Gazette  of  June  13, 1776,  has 
been  discovered  containing  the  resolutions;  it  is  in  Charles- 
ton and  I  have  seen  a  photographed  copy. 

The  first  argument  for  independence,  from  the  American 
point  of  view,  was  from  the  pen  of  Thomas  Paine.  It  was 
printed  in  the  Pennsylvania  Journal,  October  18, 1775,  under 
the  title,  "A  Serious  Thought,"  and  over  the  signature, 
"  Humanus."  It  presents  a  series  of  charges  against  Great 
Britain,  somewhat  resembling  those  of  the  "  Declaration," 
and  concludes:  "  When  I  reflect  on  these,  I  hesitate  not  for 
a  moment  to  believe  that  the  Almighty  will  finally  separate 
America  from  Britain  —  call  it  Independency  or  what  you 
will  —  if  it  is  the  cause  of  God  and  humanity  it  will  go 
on."  The  king  is  especially  arraigned  for  establishing 
African  slavery  in  America,  which  independence  will  abolish. 
Paine's  phraseology  leaves  little  doubt  that  he  wrote  the  anti- 
slavery  passage  in  the  Declaration  which  was  struck  out. 
While  writing  "Common  Sense,"  which  really  determined  the 
matter,  Paine  was  suspected  of  being  a  British  spy.  Nor 
was  it  so  absurd,  for  up  to  the  "  massacre  of  Lexington  "  he 
had  been  active  in  conciliation.  He  was  discussed  at  the 
prospective  outbreak,  and  wrote  to  Franklin:  "  I  thought  it 
very  hard  to  have  the  country  set  on  fire  about  my  ears 
almost  the  moment  I  got  into  it."  "Common  Sense"  ap- 
peared January  10, 1776.  Washington  pronounced  it  "  un- 
answerable" (to  Joseph  Reed,  January  31),  and  indeed  there 
was  not  a  leading  patriot  in  the  country  who  did  not  applaud. 
New  York  had  instructed  its  congressmen  not  to  vote  for 
independence;  but  one  of  its  delegates,  Henry  Wisner,  sent 
its  leading  assemblymen  this  pamphlet,  asking  their  answer. 
As  they  could  not  give  any,  Wisner  disregarded  their  instruc- 
tions, and  the  state  had  to  come  round  to  him.  At  that  time 
many  ascribed  the  pamphlet  to  Franklin,  who  was  one  day 
reproached  by  a  lady  for  the  expression,  "Royal  brute  of 
Great  Britain."  Franklin  assured  her  that  he  was  not  the 
author,  and  would  never  have  so  dishonored  the  brute 
creation. 

"A  little  thing  sometimes  produces  a  great  effect,"  wrote 
Cobbett  from  America  to  Lord  Grenville.  "  It  appears  to 
me  very  clear  that  some  beastly  insults  offered  to  Mr.  Paine 
while  he  was  in  the  excise  in  England  was  the  real  cause  of 
the  revolution  in  America."  This  is  more  epigrammatic  than 
exact.  Paine  was  turned  out  of  the  excise  for  absenting 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  59 

himself  from  his  post  (Lewes)  without  leave.  It  was  not  fair, 
for  he  had  been  engaged  by  the  excisemen  of  England  to  try 
and  get  a  bill  through  Parliament  raising  their  salaries,  and 
had  to  be  much  in  London ;  and  no  other  fault  was  charged. 
There  were  no  insults,  but  he  was  left  penniless,  and 
F»anklin  advised  his  coming  to  America.  Here  he  at  once 
secured  a  good  position,  and  was  editing  the  only  important 
magazine  of  the  country,  without  any  animosity  to  England. 
However,  Cobbett  is  right  when  he  further  says  that  whoever 
may  have  written  the  "  Declaration  "  Paine  was  its  author. 
At  that  time  Philadelphia  was  full  of  so  called  "tories." 
Their  chief  nest  was  the  university,  presided  over  by  Rev. 
William  Smith,  D.  D.,  who,  as  "  Cato,"  attacked  "  Common 
Sense."  Paine  replied  under  the  name  "Forrester,"  and 
President  Smith  was  so  worsted  that  he  lost  his  position, 
and  left  Philadelphia  for  a  small  curacy  in  Maryland. 
Paine  resided  in  a  room  opposite  the  chief  meeting-house 
of  the  Quakers,  who,  under  pretext  of  peace-principles, 
aided  the  enemy.  "Common  Sense"  insisted  that  they  should 
address  their  testimony  against  war  to  the  invaders  equally 
with  the  invaded,  and  as  they  were  not  ready  to  do  this 
their  influence  was  destroyed.  The  danger  to  independence 
now  lay  in  the  approach  of  peace  commissioners  from  Eng- 
land. Paine  issued  a  little  pamphlet  entitled  "  Dialogue 
Between  the  Ghost  of  General  Montgomery,  Just  Arrived 
from  the  Elysian  Fields,  and  an  American  Delegate."  The 
gallant  ghost  warns  the  delegate  that  union  with  England  is 
impossible,  and,  were  it  otherwise,  would  be  a  wrong  to  the 
English  as  well  as  the  American  people.  This  pamphlet  was 
effective  in  strengthening  wave  ers. 

On  June  7, 1775,  Hon.  Richard  Henry  Lee  submitted  to 
Congress  a  resolution  that  the  colonies  are  and  ought  to  be 
independent.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  propose 
appropriate  action  and  reported  June  28  through  Benja- 
min Harrison,  greatgrandfather  of  the  late  President. 
It  was  found  that  six  states  hesitated — New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland  and  South  Caro- 
lina. Congress  postponed  the  matter  until  July  1,  meantime 
appointing  a  committee  to  draft  a  Declaration,  another  to 
organize  a  Confederation  and  a  third  to  obtain  foreign  aid. 
The  committee  on  a  Declaration  (Jefferson,  John  Adams, 
Franklin,  Roger  Sherman  and  Robert  R.  Livingston),  re- 
ported on  July  2.  A  bare  majority  in  Congress  passed  the 
Declaration  on  July  4.  Congress  then  adjourned  to 
July  15,  in  order  that  efforts  might  be  made  to  induce 
New  York  and  Maryland  to  withdraw  their  restrictions  on 
their  delegates,  who  were  personally  favorable  to  independ- 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

ence.  On  July  15  all  were  free  and  unanimous.  On  the 
19th  Congress  ordered  the  Declaration  to  be  engrossed  and 
signed  by  every  member.  The  paper  had  been  signed  on 
July  4  only  by  John  Hancock,  president  of  Congress,  and 
the  secretary,  Charles  Thompson.  The  engrossed  copy 
was  produced  August  2  and  signed  by  the  members,  some 
signatures  being  added  later.  The  first  to  sign  was  Josiah 
Bartlett,  of  New  Hampshire,  and  the  last  Matthew  Thorn- 
ton, of  the  same  colony,  when  he  took  his  seat  November  4. 
In  Trumbull's  picture  of  the  "signing,"  in  the  capital,  more 
pomp  is  given  to  the  affair  than  accompanied  it.  The  sec- 
retary was  so  little  impressed  that  his  entry  that  the  mem- 
bers signed  is  written  on  the  margin  of  the  journal  of 
Congress.  Thomas  Stone,  of  Maryland,  who  signed,  is  not 
in  Trumbull's  picture,  and  Robert  Livingston,  who  did  not 
sign,  being  absent,  is  put  in. 

The  earliest  draft  of  the  Declaration,  before  the  anti- 
slavery  paragraphs  were  stricken  out,  is  in  the  library  of 
the  state  department;  the  draft  agreed  to  by  the  committee 
and  passed  by  Congress  is  lost;  the  engrossed  Declaration 
is  in  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia. 

A  complete  collection  of  autographs  of  the  "signers"  is 
a  fortune.  There  are  only  three  in  existence.  One  of  these 
belongs  to  Dr.  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  of  New  York.  The 
costliness  of  the  autographs  is  in  the  ratio  of  the  obscurity 
of  the  signers.  One  of  the  least  distinguished  signers  was 
Thomas  Lynch,  Jr.,  of  South  Carolina.  Only  three  examples 
of  his  writing  are  known,  uninteresting  business  notes,  and 
for  one  of  them  Dr.  Emmet  paid  over  $5,000. 

The  signers  of  the  Declaration  were  rich  men,  and  all  of 
the  "gentry."  The  British  government  were  probably  de- 
ceived by  their  adopting  as  their  spokesman,  and  making 
secretary  of  foreign  affairs,  the  humble  exciseman  Paine. 
The  first  president  of  Congress,  Peyton  Randolph,  and 
George  Washington,  would  pretty  certainly  have  been 
knighted  but  for  the  Revolution.  The  espousal  of  American 
independence  by  such  men,  and  by  the  Adams  family,  the 
Livingstons,  the  Stones  of  Maryland,  meant  that  the  mosl 
loyal  and  conservative  class  haa  gone  against  the  king,  and 
that  America  was  irrecoverably  lost  to  him.  A  well-in- 
formed English  ministry  would  have  spared  themselves 
and  us  the  seven  years'  war. 

Paine  did  not  use  only  his  pen  in  the  Revolution.  When 
the  cause  had  been  consecrated  to  independence  he  shoul- 
dered his  musket,  marched  to  the  front,  did  such  service  (at 
Fort  Lee)  that  Gen.  Greene  took  him  on  his  staff,  shared  the 
hardships  of  Washington's  retreat  to  Ihe  Delaware,  and 


DECLARATION  OF   INDEPENDENCE. 


61 


wrote  by  campfires  his  "  Crisis,"  which  Washington  ordered 
to  be  read  to  his  depressed  soldiers.  The  first  sentence  of 
that  "  Crisis,"  "  These  are  the  times  that  try  men's  souls," 
was  the  watchword  at  Trenton,  where  Paine  helped  to  cap- 
ture the  Hessians.  He  afterward  went  in  an  open  boat, 
under  fire  of  the  English  ships,  to  convey  an  order  to  those 
besieged  in  Fort  Mifflin,  and  on  other  occasions  proved  his 
courage.  He  visited  France,  and  brought  back  six  million 
livres. 

Thus  through  extreme  hardships  and  great  dangers  did 
our  forefathers  declare  their  independence.  The  youth  of 
to-day,  surrounded  by  the  countless  blessings,  resulting 
from  the  self-denial  and  bravery  of  the  early  settlers,  can 
have  but  a  faint  conception  of  the  cost  of  our  liberties. 


VALLEY  FORGE, 

Where  the  American  army  of  four  thousand  men  were  un- 
able to  move  out  of  their  huts  for  want  of  clothing, 
during  the  winter  of  1777-78. 


AMERICAN   HISTORY. 


Gen.  Washington's  Official  Carriage. 

Corner  Stones  of  American  History. 

1.  Rights  of  Man. — No  part  of  cur  history  is  more 
necessary  to  be  understood  than  these  first  official  steps 
taken  to  form  a  nation  out  of  the  material  at  hand  in  the 
New  World,  for  by  these  the  foundation  of  our  government 
was  laid  on  those  principles  which  grew  into  being  through 
a  just  view  of  the  rights  of  man. 

2.  The  First  Continental  Congress.— The  First  Conti- 
nental Congress  met  at  Philadelphia,  September  5,  1774. 
Though  composed  of  representatives  of  each  colony,  its  dele- 
gates were  not  elected  by  the  people,  but  were  sent  there  by 
the  advice  and  counsel  of  the  ablest  men  in  each  colony. 

3.  The  Second  Continental  Congress.^-The  next  year 
(1775)  the  Second  Continental  Congress  met  in  Philadelphia, 
May  10.    Under  its  authority  the  war  began  with  the  battles 
of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill,  and  the  invasion  of  Canada; 
not  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  independence,  but  for  the 
redress  of  grievances.  , 

4.  The  Declaration  of  Independence. — The  next  year, 
July  4, 1776,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  published 
to  the  world.     It  was  the  result  of  deliberate  counsels,  and 
fully  expressed  the  demands  of  the  colonists. 


AMERICAN   HISTORY 


Franklin  pleading  the  cause  of  America  before  the 
French  Court. 

5.  Articles  of  Confederation. — Even  at  this  time  the 
resolution  or  conviction  that  all  the  thirteen  colonies  were 
to  unite  under  one  government  was  not  universal;  and  it 
was  not  until  July  9,  1778,  that  the  delegates  to  Congress 
from  each  colony  under  instructions  from  their  constituents, 
signed  articles  of  confederation  and  perpetual  union.    This 
was  another  important  step  in  the  great  chain  of  events 
which  made  the  American  Nation. 

6.  What  the  Continental  Congress   Did. — Under  the 
direction  of  this  old  Continental  Congress,  the  first    ma- 
chinery of  our  government  was    set    in  motion.    Armies 
were  raised,  taxes    levied,  debts    contracted    and    money 
issued;  and  by  its  authority,  after  victory  had  crowned  its 
armies  in  the  field,  and  the  respect  of  European  nations 
had  been  won  by  the  wisdom  of  its  acts,  peace  was  made 
with  England  at  Paris,  September  3, 1783. 

7.  American  Commissioners. — Benjamin  Franklin,John 
Adams  and  John  Jay  were  the  American  Commissioners 
who  signed  the  definite  treaty. 

8.  General  Washington  Resigned  His    Commissions 
to     Congress.— On    the    23d  of    December,     1783,    Gea. 


64 


AMERICAN    HISTORY, 


FANEUIL  HALL,  BOSTON. 
"The  Cradle  of  American  Liberty." 

Washington  resigned  his  commission  to  Congress  and  re. 
tired  to  private  life  at  Mount  Vernon.  But  the  labors  of 
the  Continental  Congress  were  not  yet  completed.  It  had 
become  evident  that  the  loose  confederacy,  at  whose  head 
it  stood,  had  served  its  purpose,  and  must  soon  fall  to  pieces. 

9.  The  New  Constitution  Formed. — On  February  21, 
1787,  a  resolution  was  moved  and  carried  in  Congress 
recommending  a  convention  to  meet  in  Philadelphia,  to 
revise  the  articles  of  confederation. 

The  convention  met  in  Philadelphia,  and  on  May  25, 1787. 
unanimously  elected  George  Washington  its  President. 

The  convention  sat  with  closed  doors,  and  remained  in 
session  till  the  I7th  of  September  following,  when  they 
reported  the  draft  of  the  present  Constitution. 

After  very  full  and  excited  discussion,  the  Constitution 
was  adopted,  and  on  the  30th  of  April,  1789,  was  put  into 
complete  operation  by  the  inauguration,  at  New  York,  of 
George  Washington,  as  the  first  President  under  it. 


ORIGIN  OF  OUR   NATIONAL  FLAG. 


65 


The  House  in  Philadelphia  where  the  first 
"Stars  and  Stripes"  was  made. 

Origin  of   Our  National  Flag. 

Up  to  June  of  1777  the  troops  of  the  various  American 
colonies  which  had  declared  their  independence  of  the 
mother  country  had  fought  under  any  ensign  which  chanced 
to  please  their  fancy.  Most  of  the  New  York  forces  had 
fought  under  a  flag  in  which  the  stripes  and  the  orange* 


66 


ORIGIN  OF  OUR  NATIONAL  FLAG. 


white  and  red  of  the  old  Dutch  republic  were  prominf  nt; 
the  Connecticut  soldiers  had  displayed  a  red  flag  with  vhe 
inscription,  "An  Appeal  to  Heaven,"  on  one  side,  and  the 
Latin  motto  of  the  colony,  "  Qui  transulit  sustinet,"*  on  the 


The  First  South  Carolina  Flag,  (blue  with  white 
crescent,  1775). 


The  Gadsden  Flag,  1776. 


,ther;  the  South  Carolina  men  at  one  period  used  a  pal- 
metto banner,  and  other  'colonial  forces  had  flown  flags 
which  had  special  and  local  significance. 

*  "He  who  has  transplanted  us  will  sustain  us.** 


68 


ORIGIN  OF  OUR  NATIONAL  FLAG. 


Commodore  Hopkins  had  put  to  sea  in  February,  1776^ 
with  the  first  revolutionary  fleet,  displaying  a  flag  of  thirteen 
alternate  red  and  white  stripes,  with  the  red  and  white 
crosses  of  St.  George  and  St.  Andrew  charged  on  a  blue 
"  canton "  or  square  in  the  upper  corner.  This  flag  was 
used  more  than  any  other  one  at  the  time,  June,  1777,  when 
the  Continental  Congress,  in  session  at  Philadelphia,  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  construct  a  common  flag  for  the 
colonies. 


A  Liberty  Flag. 


On  June  14  this  committee  made  its  report.  It  advised 
that  "  the  flag  of  the  thirteen  United  States  be  thirteen 
stripes,  alternate  red  and  white ;  that  the  Union  be  thirteen 
stars,  white  in  a  blue  field,  representing  a  new  constella- 
tion." The  report  was  thereupon  put  into  the  form  of 
a  resolution,  and  the  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted 
without  discussion. 

The  Colors. — Red,  white  and  blue  are  a  modification  of 
orange,  white  and  blue,  the  colors  of  the  Dutch  republic,  and 
the  ones  used  by  New  York's  forces.  They  were  chosen  by 
the  flag  committee  for  the  same  reason  that  stripes  were  de- 
cided upon.  Red  was  later  explained  to  be  typical  of  the 
blood  patriots  were  ready  to  shed;  white,  of  the  purity  of 
their  cause,  and  blue  of  the  favor  of  Heaven. 


ORIGIN   OF   OUR   NATIONAL  FLAG. 


d9 


Contrasting  colors,  white  and  either  blue  or  red,  were 
necessary  to  be  utilized  for  the  color  of  the  stripes.  Red 
Kas  preferred  to  blue,  because  it  was  more  distinct  at  a  dis- 


Flag  of  the  Royal  Savage,  1  776. 

tance.  For  this  same  reason,  red,  instead  of  white,  was 
chosen  as  the  color  of  the  topmost  stripe,  and  consequently 
of  the  lowermost,  also.  Red  and  white  having  thus  been 
already  used,  the  color  assigned  the  Union  was  necessarily 
blue,  and  the  stars  in  the  Union  were  appropriately  made 
white.  The  Union  was  made  square  and  was  brought  down 
to  the  eighth  stripe,  that  its  blue  might  be  showed  against 
white  (a  contrasting  color),  the  color  of  that  stripe. 


Nailing  the  Colors  to  the  Mast  Head, 
The  "Stars  and  Stripes." 


70  ORIGIN  OF  THANKSGIVING  DAY. 

Origin  of  Thanksgiving  Day. 

1.  Hebrew  Feast  of  Harvest. — The  Thanksgiving  day 
of  the  Hebrews  was  called  "The  Feast  of  Harvest,"  and 
was  a  grand  annual  festival.    Probably  the  world  has  never 
witnessed  the  parallel  of  Hebrew  anniversaries.    A  day  of 
thanksgiving  was  occasionally  observed  by  the  Dutch  and 
other  European  nations. 

2.  New  England's   Day. — The  origin  of    this   annual 
thanksgiving  festival  on  the  American  continent  is  credited 
to  the  New  England  colonies.    The  early  settlers  endured 
many  privations  and  difficulties,  and  had  frequent  days  of 
fasting  and  prayer.    An  old  colonist  once  suggested  that 
they  had  brooded  long  enough  over  their  misfortunes,  and 
that  the  next  be  made  a  day  of  thanksgivings.    It  was  done 
and  the  custom  was  continued  from  year  to  year,  but  was 
confined  to  New  England  for  many  years.    Different  days 
were  appointed  by  different  governors. 

3.  National  Day. — The  first  governmental  recommenda- 
tion made  by  Congress  was  July  20,  1775,  and  was  continued 
annually  until  the  close  of  the  war  in  1783.    Then  there  was 
no  observance  of  a  national  day  until  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution.    In  1789  Congress  appointed  a  committee  to 
wait  on  the  President  and  request  that  he  would  recommend 
to  the  people  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving.    Washington, 
in  accordance  therewith,  named  November  26.    This  was  the 
first  under  the  Constitution  and  the  last  Thanksgiving  proc- 
lamation emanating  from  Congress.     The  next  nationa' 
Thanksgiving  was  observed  February  19, 1795.    After  that 
there  was  none  observed  until  after  the  close  of  the  war  of 
1812  ;  Madison,  in  a  proclamation,  recommended  the  second 
Thursday  of  April,  1814.    Then  there  was  no  national  day  ob- 
served until  April  10, 1862,  which  Lincoln  recommended  as 
a  day  of  thanksgivings  for  "signal  victories  to  the  land  and 
naval  forces  engaged  in  suppressing  an  internal  rebellion." 

4.  Last  Thursday  of  November. — This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  annual  custom,  and  in  1864  the  proclamation 
recommended  the  last  Thursday  of  November. 

5.  At  Home. — Thanksgiving  Day  is  the  great  "  at  home  " 
day  of  the  American  people.     It  is  the  day  of  returns  to  the 
"old  place,"  the  day  of   dinners  and  reunions.    "Corns 
home,  children,  on  Thanksgiving;  Day,"  slowly  writes  the 
trembling  finger  of  a  venerable  sire.    The  palsy  and  rheu- 
matism have  not  yet  touched  his  heart,  as  one  sees  when, 
with  glistening  eyes,  he  reads  the  prompt  answer,  "We 
are  all  coining." 


71 


DECORATING  THE    GRAVES  OF   THE    FALLEN 
HEROES   WITH    FLOWERS. 


WHAT  THE  AMERICANS  HAVE  DONE.  73 

Origin  of  Decoration  Day. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  thirty-three  years  ago,  four  women 
bearing  flowers  entered  Arlington  cemetery  and  decorated 
the  graves  of  the  dead  soldiers.  To-day  countless  thousands 
actuated  by  the  same  loving  spirit  will  lay  a  nation's  tribute 
at  the  feet  of  the  nation's  martyred  sons. 

Among  all  America's  treasured  anniversaries  there  is  no 
other  which  holds  the  gentleness  and  sweetness  of  Decora- 
tion Day.  One  year  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  day 
had  its  origin.  May  30,  1862,  Mrs.  Sarah  Nichols,  of 
Dubuque,  la.,  accompanied  by  the  wife  and  two  daughters 
of  Chaplain  May,  of  the  2d  Michigan  volunteers,  laid  flow- 
ers on  the  graves  of  dead  soldiers  in  the  national  cemetery 
at  Arlington.  On  the  same  day  of  the  following  year  the 
same  women  observed  the  same  beautiful  service.  The 
women  of  Fredericksburg  took  up  the  mission  in  1863,  and 
until  the  year  1874  May  30  was  continuously  observed  in 
this  manner,  the  custom  in  the  meantime  spreading.  In 
1874  Congress  took  cognizance  of  the  day  and  set  it  apart 
as  a  national  holiday. 

The  beautiful  and  impressive  flower  service  to-day  will 
perfume  the  atmosphere  of  every  cemetery  which  holds  the 
country's  dead  heroes  in  commemoration  of  one  of  the 
greatest  struggles  in  the  history  of  nations.'  But  after  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  there  is  no  bitterness  in  the  ob- 
servance. Even  grief  has  become  softened  in  the  lapse  of 
years. 

Humanity's  best  sentiments  become  active  on  such  an 
occasion  as  this,  and  the  nation  is  the  better  for  its  influence. 

What  the  Americans  Have  Done. 

i.  A  Hundred  Years  Ago. — A  hundred  years  ago  the 
agricultural  interests  of  our  country  were  mostly  in  the 
hands  of  uneducated  men.  Science  was  not  applied  to 
husbandry.  A  spirit  of  improvement  was  scarcely  known. 
The  son  copied  the  ways  of  his  father.  He  worked  with  no 
other  implements  and  pursued  no  other  methods  of  culti- 
vation ;  and  he  who  attempted  a  change  was  regarded  as  a 
visionary  or  an  innovator.  Very  little  associated  effort  for 
improvement  in  the  business  of  farming  was  then  seen. 
The  first  association  for  such  a  purpose  was  formed  in  the 
south,  and  was  known  as  the  '  'South  Carolina  Agricultural 
Society,"  organized  in  1784.  A  similar  society  was  formed 
in  Pennsylvania  the  following  year.  Now  there  are  state, 
county,  and  even  town  agricultural  societies  in  almost  every 
part  of  the  Union. 


74        *  WHAT  THE   AMERICANS   HAVE   DONE. 


Clearing  the  First  Farm  in  New  England. 
2.  Agricultural  Implements. — Agricultural  implements 
were  rude  and  simple.  They  consisted  chiefly  of  the  plow, 
harrow,  spade,  hoe,  hand- rake,  scythe,  sickle,  and  wooden 
fork.  The  plow  had  a  clumsy,  wrought-iron  share  with 
wooden  mould-board,  which  was  sometimes  plated  with  tin 
or  sheet-iron.  The  rest  of  the  structure  was  equally  clumsy; 
and  the  implement  required  in  its  use,  twice  the  amount  of 
strength  of  man  ar  *  beast  that  the  present  plow  does.  Im- 
provements in  the  construction  or  plows  during  the  past 
fifty  years  save  to  the  country  annually,  in  work  and  teams,  at 
least  $12,000,000.  The  first  "patent  for  a  cast-iron  plow  was 
issued  in  1797.  To  the  beginning  of  1875,  about  four  hun- 
dred patents  have  been  granted. 


75 


76 


WHAT  AMERICANS   HAVE   DONE. 


WATCH  WORKS  AT  WALTHAM,  MASS. 

3.  Seed  was  Sown  by  Hand.— A  hundred  years  ago 
the  seed  was  sown  by  hand,  and  the  entire  crop  was  har- 
vested by  hard,  manual  labor.    The  grass  was  cut  with  a 
scythe,  and  "cured,"  and  gathered  with  a  fork  and  handrake. 
The  grain  was  cut  with  a  sickle,  threshed  with  a  flail  or  the 
treading  of  horses,  and  was  cleared  of  the  chaff  by  a  large 
clamshell  shaped  fan  of  wickerwork,  used  in  a  gentle  breeze. 
The  drills,  seedsowers,  cultivators,  mowers,  reapers,  thresh- 
ing machines,  and  fanning  mills  of  our  days  were  all  un- 
known. 

4.  Iron  Manufacture. — Now  iron  is  manufactured  in  our 
country  m  every  form  from  a  nail  to  a  locomotive.    A  vast 
number  of  machines  have  been  invented  for  carrying  on 
these  manufactures;  and  the  products  in  cutlery,  firearms, 
railway  materials,  and  machinery  of  every  kind,  employ 
vast  numbers  of  men  and  a  great  amount  of  capital.    Our 
locomotive  builders  are  regarded  as  the  best  in  the  world; 
and  no  nation  on  the  globe  can  compete  with  us  in  the  con- 
struction of  steamboats  of  every  kind,  from  the  ironclad  war 
Steamer  to  the  harbor  tug. 

5..  Copper,  Silver  and  Gold.— In  the  manufacture  of 
copper,  silver  and  gold,  there  has  been  great  progress.  At 
the  close  of  the  Revolution  no  manufactures  of  the  kind 
existed  in  our  country.  ^  Now,  the  manufacture  of  copper- 
ware  yearly,  of  every  kind,  and  jewelry  and  watches,  baft 
become  a  large  item  in  our  commercial  tables. 


78  WHAT  THE  AMERICANS  HAVE  DONE. 

6.  A  Lusl  for  Gold. — A  last  for  gold,  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  its  existence  in  America,  was  the  chief  incentive  to 
emigration  to  these  shores.  But  within  the  domain  of  our 
republic  very  little  of  it  was  found,  until  that  domain  was 
extended  far  toward  the  Pacific  ocean.  It  was  unsuspected 
until  long  after  the  Revolution.  Finally,  gold  was  discov- 
ered among  the  mountains  of  Virginia,  North  and  South 
Carolina,  and  in  Georgia.  North  Carolina  was  the  first 
state  in  the  Union  to  send  gold  to  the  mint  in  Philadelphia. 
Its  first  small  contribution  was  in  1804.  From  that  time 
until  1823  the  average  amount  produced  from  North  Caro- 
lina mines  did  not  exceed  $2,500  annually.  Virginia's  first 


Sutler's  Mill,  California,  where  Gold  was  Discovered 
in    1848. 

contribution  was  in  1829,  when  that  of  North  Carolina  for 
that  year  was  $128,000.  Georgia  sent  its  first  contribution 
in  1830.  It  amounted  to  $212,000.  The  product  so  increased 
that  branch  mints  were  established  in  North  Carolina  and 
Georgia  in  1837  and  1838,  and  another  in  New  Orleans.  In 
1848  gold  was  discovered  in  the  American  fork  of  the  Sac- 
ramento river  in  California  and  soon  afterward  elsewhere  in 
that  region.  A  gold  fever  seized  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  and  thousands  rushed  to  California  in  search  of  the 
precious  metals.  Within  a  year  from  the  discovery  nearly 
50,000  people  were  there.  Less  than  five  ^ears  afterward, 


WHAT  THE  AMERICANS  HAVE  DONE.  79 

California,  in  one  year,  sent  to  the  United  States  mint  fully 
$40,000,000  in  gold.  Its  entire  gold  product  in  this  time  is 
estimated  at  more  than  $800,000,000.  Over  all  the  far  west- 
ern states  and  territories  the  precious  metals,  gold  and  sil- 
ver, seem  to  be  scattered  in  profusion,  and  the  amount  of 
mineral  wealth  yet  to  be  discovered  there  seems  to  be  incal- 
culable. Our  coal  fields  seem  to  be  inexhaustible;  and  out 
of  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  in  portions  of  our  country,  flow 
millions  of  barrels  annually  of  petroleum,  or  rock  oil,  afford- 
ing the  cheapest  illuminating  material  in  the  world. 


The  First  Warship. 

7.  Mineral  Coal. — Mineral  coal  was  first  discovered  and 
u  ;ed  in  Pennsylvania  at  the  period  of  the  Revolution.  A 
boat  load  was  sent  down  the  Susquehanna  from  Wilkesbarre 
for  the  use  of  the  Continental  works  at  Carlisle.  But  it  was 
not  much  used  before  the  war  of  1812,  and  the  regular  busi- 
ness of  mining  this  fuel  did  not  become  a  part  of  the  com- 
merce of  the  country  before  the  year  1820,  when  365  tons 
were  sent  to  Philadelphia.  At  the  present  time  the  amount 
of  coal  sent  to  market  from  the  American  mines,  of  all 
kinds,  is  equal  to  full  30,000,000  tons  annually. 


80  WHAT  THE  AMERICANS  HAVE  DONE. 

8.  The  First  Canals.— The  first  canals  made  in  this 
country  were  two  short  ones,  for  a  water  passage  around 
the  South  Hadley  and  Montague  Falls,  in  Massachusetts. 
These  were  constructed  in  1792.  At  about  the  same  time 
the  Inland  Rock  Navigation  Companies,  in  the  state  of 
New  York,  began  their  work.  The  Middlesex  canal,  con- 
necting Lowell  with  Boston  harbor,  was  completed  in  1808, 
and  the  great  Erie  canal,  363  miles  in  length,  was  finished 
in  1825,  at  a  cost  of  almost  $8,000,000.  The  aggregate  length 
of  canals  built  in  the  United  States  is  3,200  miles. 


The   Modern   Warship. 

The  first  railway  built  in  the  United  States  was  one 
three  miles  in  length,  that  connected  the  granite  quarries 
at  Quincy,  Mass.,  with  the  Neponset  river.  It  was  com- 
pleted in  1827;  horse  power  was  used.  The  first  use  of  a 
locomotive  in  this  country  was  in  1829,  when  one  was  put 
upon  a  railway  that  connected  the  coal  mines  of  the  Dela- 
ware- &  Hudson  Canal  Company  with  Honesdale.  This 
was  for  freight  only.  The  first  passenger  railway  was 
opened  in  1830.  Now  railways  form  a  thick  network  all 
over  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  are 
rapidly  spreading  over  the  states  and  territories  beyond, 
to  the  Pacific  ocean.  To  these  facilities  for  commer- 
cial operations  must  be  added  the  electro-magnetic 
telegraph,  an  American  invention,  as  a  method  of 
transmitting  intelligence,  and  giving  warning  signals  to 
the  shipping  and  agricultural  interests  concerning  the 
actual  and  probable  state  of  the  weather  each  day.  The 
first  line,  forty  miles  in  length,  was  constructed  between 


WHAT  THE  AMERICANS  HAVE  DONE.  81 

Baltimore  and  Washington  in  1844.  Now  the  lines  are 
extended  to  every  part  of  our  Union,  and  all  over  our  civil- 
ized world,  traversing  oceans  and  rivers,  and  bringing  Paris 
and  New  York  within  one  hour's  space  of  intercommuni- 
cation. 

9.  Improvement  of  the  Schools. — As  the    nation    ad- 
vanced in  wealth  and  intelligence,  the  necessity  for  correct 
popular  education  became  more  and  more  manifest,  and  as- 
sociated efforts  were  made  for  the  improvement  of    the 
schools  by  providing  for  the  training  of  teachers  under  the 
respective  phase    of    teachers'   associations,  ^educational 
periodicals,  normal  schools  and  teachers'  institutes.    The 
first  of  these  societies  in  this  country  was  the  Middlesex 
County   Association    for   the    Improvement    of    Common 
Schools,  established  at  Middletown,  Conn.,  in  1799.    But 
little  of  importance  was  done  in  that  direction  until  within 
the  last  forty-five  years.    Now  provision  is  made  in  all  sec- 
tions of  the  Union,  not  only  for  the  support  of  common 
schools,  but  for  training-schools  for  teachers.    Since  the 
civil  war,  great  efforts  have  been  made  to  establish  common- 
school  systems  in  the  late  slave-labor  states  that  should  in- 
clude among  the  beneficiaries  the  colored  population.  Much 
has  been  done  in  that  regard. 

10.  Free   Schools. — Very    great    improvements    have 
been  made  in  the  organization  and  discipline  of  the  public 
schools  in  cities  within  the  last  thirty  years.    Free  schools 
are  rapidly  spreading  their  beneficent  influence  over  the 
whole  Union,  and  in  some  states  laws  have  been  made  that 
compel  all  children  of  a  certain  age  to  go  to  school.    Insti- 
tutions for  the  special  culture  of  young  women  in  all  that 
pertains  to  college  education  have  been  established  within  a 
few  years.    The  pioneer  in  this  work  is  Vassar  College,  at 
Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.t  which  was  first  opened  in  the  year 
1865.    Besides  the  ordinary  means  for  education,  others 
have  been  established  for  special  purposes.    These  are  law, 
scientific,  medical,    theological,  military,  commercial  and 
agricultural  schools,  and  seminaries  for  the  deaf,  dumb  and 
blind.    In  many  states  school  district  libraries  have  been 
established.    There  are  continually  enlarging  means  pro- 
vided for  the  education  of  the  whole  people.      Edmund 
Burke  said,  "  Education  is  the  cheap  defense  of  nations." 

n.  Newspapers. — Ihe  newspapers  printed  in  the 
United  States  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  were  few 
in  number,  small  in  size,  and  very  meager  in  information  of 
any  kind.  They  were  issued  weekly,  semi-weekly  and  tri- 
weekly. The  first  daily  newspaper  issued  in  this  country 
was  the  American  Daily  Advertiser  established  in  Phil- 


82 


THE  GROWTH  OF  CITIES. 


adelphia  in  1784.  In  1775  there  were  thirty-seven  news- 
papers and  periodicals  in  the  United  States,  with  an  ag- 
gregate issue  that  year  of  1,200,000  C9pies.  In  1870  the 
number  of  daily  newspapers  in  the  United  States  was  542, 
and  of  weeklies,  4,425.  Of  the  dailies,  800,000,000  were 
issued  that  year;  of  the  weeklies,  COO .000,000;  and  of  other 
serial  publications,  100,000,000;  making  an  aggregate  of 
fully  1,500,000,000  copies.  To  these  figures  should  be  made 
a  large  addition  at  the  close  of  1895.  There  are  now  about 
forty  newspapers  in  the  United  States  which  have  existed 
over  fifty  years. 

The  Growth  of  Cities. 

New  York. — Nature  never  prepared  a  more  pictur- 
esque or  a  more  advantageous  site  for  a  great  commercial 
capital  than  Manhattan  Island,  nor  a  harbor  more  secure 


New  York  in   1612. 

or  better  adapted  for  commerce  of  the  world  than  New  York 
bay.  In  primeval  solitude,  3,000  miles  from  civilization,  the 
discovery  and  settlement  of  the  island  by  Europeans  may 
be  traced  to  causes  beginning  about  three  centuries  ago. 
Two  great  Dutch  commercial  corporations  seriously  agi- 
tated the  world  during  the  half  century  between  1580  and 
1630,  and  in  the  convulsive  moments  through  which  they 
took  their  rise,  New  York  has  its  origin. 


THE   GROWTH   OF   CITIES. 


83 


New  York  in    1846. 


New  York  Harbor. 


84  GROWTH  OF  CITIES. 

In  1609,  Henry  Hudson,  an  Englishman  iu  the  service  of 
the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  sailed  to  America  to  find 
a  northwest  passage  to  India.  Failing  in  this,  he  explored 
the  eastern  coast  of  North  America  from  Chesapeake  Bay 
to  Long  Island,  entered  New  York  harbor,  and  ascended 
the  Hudson  beyond  the  present  site  of  Albany.  This  voy- 
age laid  the  foundation  of  the  greatest  city  of  the  New 
World.  m  New  York  City  in  1890  had  a  population  of  1,515,- 
301,  an  increase  of  over  25  per  cent,  from  the  census  of  1880. 
The  population  at  the  present  writing  is  over  two  millions. 

Chicago. — The  second  city  in  size  is  advantageously 
situated  on  the  southwest  shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  The 
name  is  of  Indian  origin,  signifying  "wild  onion."  It  was 
first  settled  in  1831  and  in  1832  contained  about  a  dozen 
families,  besides  the  officers  of  Ft.  Dearborn  located  there. 
Its  first  charter  was  granted  in  1837.  At  its  settlement  it 
seemed  an  unpromising  site  for  a  great  city.  The  river 
mouth  was  a  sluggish  bayouf  its  banks  marshy,  muddy  flats, 
not  at  all  favorable  to  the  growth  of  a  large  city.  Harbors 
on  the  great  lakes  are  not  turned  out  ready  made  by  nature, 
but  must  be  constructed  by  human  enterprise  and  skill. 
Western  ingenuity  and  venturesomeness  was  equal  to  the 
occasion,  and  although  the  work  was  begun  on  a  small  scale, 
it  was  rapidly  extended  to  meet  the  growing  wants  of  com- 
merce, until  Chicago  now  has  a  harbor  adequate  to  the  de- 
mands of  a  great  city.  Its  rapid  increase  is  shown  in  the 
following  census  reports  of  its  population:  1840,  4,470; 
1850,  28,260;  1860, 150,000;  1870,  298,000;  1880,  596,665;  1890, 
1,099,850*  In  October,  1871,  a  terrible  fire  occurred  which 
burned  18,000  houses,  extending  over  2100  acres  ;200  persons 
perished  and  nearly  100,000  were  rendered  homeless.  The 
total  loss  was  $190,000,000  of  which  about  $40,000,000  was 
recovered  on  insurance.  Many  insurance  companies  were 
utterly  ruined.  The  recovery  of  the  city  from  this  calamity 
was  so  rapid  that  in  three  years  its  only  evidence  was  in  the 
grandeur  and  magnificence  of  its  buildings  over  all  the 
raged  district.  In  extent  of  district  burned  the  Chicago 
fire  stands  first  in  the  great  conflagrations  of  the  world. 

Chicago,  the  pride  of  the  central  part  of  our  nation, 
stands  unequaled  in  many  respects.  The  city  is  26  miles 
long,  greatest  width  15  miles,  total  area  190  square  miles. 
Lake  frontage  22  miles,  2,210  miles  ot  streets,  of  which  658 
are  improved.  Fifty-nine  miles  are  boulevards. 

The  longest  street  isHalsted  street,  21  y2  miles  in  extent. 

*  A  school  census  of  Chicago  in  1892  showed  a  population  of  more 
than  1,400,000,  and  the  same  census  for  1896  is  1,619,226. 


THE   GROWTH   OF   CITIES.  85 

There  are  about  400  miles  of  street-railway  tracks  grid- 
ironing  the  city  and  furnishing  transportation  for  upward 
of  three-quarters  of  a  million  people. 

The  floating  population  of  Chicago  averages  75,000  daily; 
the  hotel  and  other  accommodations  for  transients  being 
great  enough  to  care  for  150,000. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  statistics  bearing  upon  the 
shipping  of  Chicago.  In  1891  there  entered  and  cleared  at 
New  York  16,000  vessels,  while  at  Chicago  20,000  vessels 
entered  and  cleared. 

Practically  Chicago  is  the  terminal  point  of  all  the  trunk 
lines  of  railway,  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  in  the  United 
States,  Canada,  and  Mexico. 

Over  90,000  miles  of  railroads  center  in  Chicago  at  the 
present  time.  It  is  admitted  to  be  the  greatest  railroad 
center  in  the  world. 

Estimates  have  been  made  showing  that  more  passen- 
gers arrive  and  depart,  more  merchandise  is  received  and 
shipped  daily,  than  at  any  other  point  on  earth. 

The  commerce  of  the  city  for  1891  was  $1,459,000,000, 
against  $20,000,000  for  1850.  In  the  same  year  the  amount 
ot  money  paid  to  employes  in  manufacturing  establish- 
ments was  $104,904,000,  while  the  capital  employed  in  man- 
ufacturing was  $240,302,000. 

Chicago  is  destined  to  be  the  first  city  in  America. 
Is  the  largest  cattle  market  in  the  world. 
Is  the  largest  lumber  market  in  the  world. 
Is  the  largest  grain  market  in  the  world. 
Is  the  greatest  stove  market  in  the  world. 
Is  the  greatest  packing  center  in  the  world. 
Is  the  greatest  railway  center  in  the  world. 
Chicago  has  the  largest  stock  yards  in  the  world. 
Has  the  finest  hotel  buildings  in  the  world. 
Has  the  largest  office  buildings  in  the  world. 
Has  a  greater  area  than  any  city  in  America. 
Has  the  greatest  elevator  capacity  in  the  world. 
Has  the  largest  agricultural  implement  manufactory  in 
the  world. 

Has  the  largest  mining  machine  factory  in  the  world. 
Has  the  largest  commercial  building  in  the  world. 
Has  the  greatest  retail  dry  goods  house  in  the  world. 
Has  the  largest  cold  storage  building  in  the  world. 
Has  the  largest  library  circulation  in  the  United  States. 
Has  the  largest  percentage  of  bank  reserves  in  America. 
Has  the  most  complete  cable  system  in  the  world. 
Has  the  most  complete  water  system  in  the  wor!4. 


86 


CATTLE   KILLED   AND   DRESSED. 


87 


One  of  Chicago's  Greatest  Industries, 
The  Stock  Yards. 

Chicago  has  the  largest  stock  yards  in  the  world.  This 
center  of  the  live  stock  trade  was  opened  in  1858.  The 
yards  cover  nearly  400  acres,  affording  a  capacity  for 
55,000  cattle,  150,000  hogs,  12,000  sheep,  and  2,000  horses.  To 
those  unacquainted  with  these  sights,  a  visit  to  the  stock 
yards  is  exceedingly  interesting  and  valuable. 


Killing  Cattle  at  Armour's 


How  5,000  Cattle  are  Killed  and 
Dressed  in  a  Day. 

The  killing  and  dressing  of  beef  will  prove  of  much  in- 
terest to  all.  Usually  the  cattle  are  left  in  the  pens  adjoin- 
ing the  beef  house  twenty-four  hours  after  having  been 
driven  from  the  yards.  This  insures  an  even,  cool  tempera- 


88  CATTLE   KILLED   AND   DRESSED. 

ture.  They  are  then  driven  into  narrow  passageways  beside 
the  pens,  each  compartment  being  only  large  enough  to 
hold  one  animal.  Over  head  is  a  plank  whereon  walks  the 
grim  executioner.  The  cattle  are  killed  either  by  shooting 
or  by  the  stroke  of  a  large  hammer;  sometimes  by  means 
of  a  heavy  spear  the  spinal  column  is  severed  at  its  junction 
with  the  skull.  In  whatever  way  administered,  death  is 
immediate.  Directly  opposite  the  steer,  as  it  falls,  is  a  slid- 
ing door  which  is  lifted  and  the  animal  is  drawn  onto  the 
dressing  floor  by  a  chain  attached  to  the  horns.  He  is  then 
raised  automatically,  by  his  hind  quarters  and  suspended 
from  a  rail,  and  busy  hands  attack  him.  The  head  is  cut  off 
and  the  tongue  removed  by  one  man,  the  feet  stripped  by  the 
next,  the  entrails  are  removed  by  another,  the  hide  stripped 
off  by  one,  and  a  general  finishing  touch  given  by  another. 

The  killing  and  dressing  process  is  over.  The  steer  still 
hangs  suspended  from  the  rails,  on  which  it  is  now  moved 
past  the  weighmaster,  who  records  its  weight  and  nature, 
and  then  it  is  slid  along  on  the  rail  to  the  chill  room.  Here 
the  air,  by  means  of  cold  air  machinery,  is  kept  constantly 
near  the  freezing  point.  Here  the  beef  is  allowed  to  hang 
from  forty  to  eighty  hours,  and  then,  still  suspended  from 
the  rails,  is  run  out  to  the  loading  platform,  divided  into 
fore  and  hind  quarters,  carefully  inspected  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  refrigerator  cars  standing  ready  to  receive  it, 
and  in  them  distributed  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 


§tipking  Hogs  at  Armour's, 


HOW  HOGS  ARE  KILLED  AND  DRESSED.  89 

How  Hogs  are  Killed  and  Dressed  at 
the  Rate  of  16  a  Minute, 

Hog-killing  and  the  subsequent  treatment  of  pork  prod- 
ucts offer  a  most  interesting  and,  indeed,  unique  field  of 
observation.  It  would  seem  as  if  this  department  had  been 
brought  to  a  state  of  absolute  perfection. 

The  hogs  are  driven  from  the  yards  up  elevated  road- 
ways into  pens  adjoining  the  slaughter  house,  and  after  a 
sufficient  delay  to  permit  them  to  cool  off,  they  are  driven 
into  the  building  100  or  200  at  a  time.  Running  directly 
over  the  slaughter  basin,where  stands  the  blood-bespattered 
butcher,  are  rails  with  wheel  and  pivot  attachments.  Nim- 
ble boys  deftly  pass  a  chain  over  one  hind  leg  of  each 
animal.  The  chain  is  quickly  wound  up  and  the  hog  lifted 
completely  from  the  floor.  The  rail  on  which  the  pivot 
wheel  rests  is  on  an  inclined  plane,  and  in  a  moment  the 
hog  is  brought  right  in  front  of  the  executioner,  who  with  a 
quick  and  dextrous  stroke  administers  the  death  thrust. 
The  blood  drains  off  into  a  reservoir  below,  to  be  afterward 
dried,  pulverized  and  used  for  fertilizing. 

,  The  hog  is  then  brought  over  an  immense  vat  of  boiling 
water,  into  which  it  is  plunged,  left  there  a  few  moments 
and  then  by  means  of  a  huge  gate,  connected  by  revolving 
pivots  at  the  sides,  swung  onto  a  table.  Passing  through  the 
center  of  the  table  is  an  endless  chain  with  hooks  attached, 
one  of  which  is  fastened  into  the  nose  of  the  hog,  and  by 
this  means  the  animal  is  carried  along  through  the  scraping 
machine. 

This  machine  is  made  of  huge  steel  b'ades,  mounted  on 
inverted  cylinders,  and  so  constructed  that  contact  is  easily 
made  with  every  portion  of  the  body  as  it  passes  through. 
In  less  than  ten  seconds  the  hog,  which  previously  presented 
an  unclean  and  disheveled  appearance,  comes  forth  sleek 
and  clean.  The  bristles  are  saved  and  sold  to  brush  mak- 
ers; the  hair  falls  into  a  receptacle  on  the  floor  beneath,  and 
is  dried,  cleaned,  and  readily  sold  to  curled  hair  manufac- 
turers. Emerging  from  the  machine  the  hog  is  thoroughly 
washed  by  a  strong  stream  of  water  from  a  hose.  The  gam- 
bels  are  then  cut,  and  by  them  the  hog  is  once  more  sus- 
pended from  the  rail. 

A  sharp  knife  in  a  dextrous  hand  disembowels  him. 
The  head  is  severed  almost  entirely  from  the  body,  the 
intestines  are  carefully  separated,  the  leaf  lard  is  removed 
at  the  next  table,  and  the  head  is  entirely  taken  off  at  the 
next.  The  tongue  is  removed,  the  cheeks  are  singed,  and 


90 


HOW  HOGS  ARE   KILLED  AND   DRESSED. 


The  Old   Style. 


Mr.  hog,  minus  his  head,  glides  gracefully  down  the  inclined 
plane  to  the  hanging  floor.  The  sanguinary  nature  of  the 
operation  is  lost  sight  of  in  the  mechanical  and  speedy  way 
in  which  it  is  performed.  Sixteen  hogs  a  minute  are  oper- 
ated upon,  so  that  little  time  is  left  for  reflection. 

To  the  hanging  floor,  where  the  hogs  are  suspended  in 
rows  to  cool  and  become  firm,  the  descent  is  easy  and  rapid. 
Here  the  sides  are  severed,  each  still  suspended  from  the 
rail,  and  are  pushed  down  parallel  alleyways  and  there  left 
to  cool.  Here  they  are  generally  allowed  to  remain  twenty- 
four  hours.  An  even  temperature  is  maintained  in  the  cool- 
ing room  all  the  year  round.  In  summer  vast  stores  of  ice 
overhead  contribute  to  that  end.  From  the  cooling  room 
the  sides  are  run  on  the  rails  to  the  cutting  table. 


OUR   NATIONAL   GREATNESS.  91 

Our  National  Greatness. 

1.  The  Youngest  but  Greatest  Nation  of  the  Earth.— 
Of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  which  have  grown  into 
political  eminence  and  influence   none  have  shown  such 
unprecedented    growth  and  development.     Rome,  in  the 
days  of  her  martial  greatness,  though  the  growth  of  cen- 
turies, never  possessed  the  resources,  the  military  strength, 
nor  the  national   prosperity  characteristic  of  the    United 
States.    Of  all  the  nations  or  the  past  none  have  ever  risen 
with  such  immense  strides  of  industrial  growth  with  which 
our  country  has  marched  to  the  front. 

2.  The  Marvel  of  Nations. — The  organization  of  our  re- 
public was  a  new  dep?-rture  from  the  old  forms  of  govern- 
ment; it  was  an  untritd  experiment;  a  government  unlike 
any    other    government.     Its    success    has    surprised    the 
world  and   made  every  European  ruler  tremble  upon  his 
throne.    Owing  to  the  tact  that  people  of  all  nations  love  re- 
ligious and  civil  liberty,  our  country  was  rapidly  populated. 
The  American  people  have  set  the  example  of  independent 
seJf-gcvernment ,  and    millions    of    .the    oppressed    have 
rushed  to  our  shores  for  liberty  and  protection,  and  they 
have     not    been    disappointed.      No    other    country    has 
ever  grown  like  it,  and  no  other  country  has  ever  given 
to    its    people    such    a     wide    range  or     industrial    and 
political    opportunity.     America  is  truly  what  a  certain 
statesman  has  said,  "  a  country  in  which  every  voter  is  a 
sovereign  and  every  woman  a  queen." 

3.  The  Seven  Wonders  of  American  Government: 

1.  No  nation  ever  acquired  so  vast  a  territory  in  so 
quiet  a  manner. 

2.  No  nation  ever  rose  to  such  greatness  by  means  so 
peaceable. 

3.  No  nation  ever  advanced  so  rapidly  in  all  that  con- 
stitutes national  strength  and  capital. 

4.  No  nation  ever  rose  to  such  a  pinnacle  of  power  in 
a  space  of  time  so  incredibly  short. 

5.  No  nation  in  so  limited  a  time  has  developed  such 
unlimited  resources. 

6.  No  nation  has  ever  existed  the  foundations  of  whose 
government  were  laid  so  broad  and  deep  in  the  principles 
of  justice,  righteousness  and  truth. 

7.  No  nation  has  ever  existed  in  which  men  have  been 
left  so  free  to  work  out  their  own  fortune,  and  to  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience. 


92 


OUR   NATIONAL   GREATNESS. 


4.  Our  Territory. — Our  nation  began  with  a  very  small 
settlement  of  earnest  men,  who,  fleeing  from  the  religious 
intolerance  of  the  Old  World,  occupied  a  narrow  strip  along 
the  Atlantic  coast.  They  overcame  famine  and  survived 
the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife  of  the  lurking  savage; 
they  built  homes,  developed  farms  and  built  cities.  Now,  a 
mighty  nation  with  all  its  vast  expanse  of  territory,  stretch- 
ing from  ocean  to  ocean  and  from  regions  almost  arctic  on 
the  north,  to  regions  almost  as  torrid  on  the  south,  embrac- 
ing more  habitable  land  than  Rome  ever  ruled  over  in  her 
palmiest  days  after  more  than  seven  centuries  of  growth, 
the  United  States  holds  a  position  of  independence  and 
glory  that  is  second  to  none  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

In  1787  the  Constitution  was  framed  and  subsequently 
ratified  by  the  thirteen  original  states — New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 


The  First  Governor's  House  in  New  York. 


94  OUft   NATIONAL   GREATNESS. 

On  the  first  day  of  March,  1789,  the  American  ship  of 
state  was  fairly  launched  with  less  than  one  million  square 
miles  of  territory  (827,844).  Since  then  we  have  acquired 
from  France,  April  30,  1803,  for  $15,000,000,  1,171,931  square 
miles;  from  Spain,  July  17,  1821,  for  $6,500,000  59,268  square 
miles;  from  annexation  of  Texas,  March  2,  1845,  376,133 
square  miles;  from  purchase  from  Mexico,  July  4,  1848,  for 
115,000,000,  545,783  square  miles;  from  second  Mexican  pur- 
chase for  $10,000,000,  45,535  square  miles;  from  Russia, 
March  30,  1867  for  $7,200,000,  the  territory  of  Alaska  con- 
taining 577,390  square  miles.  This  gives  a  grand  total  of 
three  million,  six  hundred  three  thousand,  eight  hundred 
eighty-four  (3,603,884)  square  miles  of  territory,  four-ninths 
of  all  North  America,  and  more  than  one-fifteenth  of  the 
whole  land  surface  of  the  globe.  Of  all  nations  on  the  globe 
whose  laws  are  framed  by  legislative  bodies  elected  by  the 
•people,  our  nation  has  the  largest  territory. 

The  greatness  of  our  country  is  graphically  pictured  by 
Dr  Strong  when  he  says,  "Lay  Texas  on  the  face  of  Europe, 
and  this  giant  with  his  head  resting  on  the  mountains  of 
Norway  (directly  east  of  the  Orkney  Islands),  with  one  palm 
covering  London,  the  other  Warsaw,  would  stretch  himself 
down  across  the  kingdom  of  Denmark,  across  the  empires 
of  Germany  and  Austria,  across  Northern  Italy,  and  lave 
his  feet  in  the  Mediterranean.  Dakota  might  be  carved 
into  a  half  dozen  kingdoms  of  Greece;  or,  if  it  were  divided 
into  twenty-six  equal  countries  we  might  lay  down  the  two 
kingdoms  of  Israel  and  Judah  in  each." 

5.  Our  Population. — One  hundred  and  twenty  years 
ago  the  United  States  became  an  independent  govern- 
ment with  about  three  millions  of  people.  To-day  we  have 
more  than  sixty-five  millions.  And  yet  this  large  and  very 
rapidly  increasing  population  is  exceedingly  small  com- 
pared with  the  number  our  country  is  able  to  sustain.  It 
is  estimated  that  the  'United  States  can  easily  sustain  and 
enrich  1,000,000,000.  If  our  65,000,000  were  all  placed  in 
the  state  of  Texas  the  population  would  not  be  as  dense  as 
many  of  the  countries  of  Europe.  Here  under  one  flag  are 
gathering  in  ever  increasing  numbers  multitudes  from  the 
nations  of  the  Old  World  who,  suffering  under  the  yoke  of 
taxation,  non-proprietorship  of  the  soil,  and  poverty;  and 
attracted  by  the  brightening  blazes  of  freedom,  ownership 
of  land,  equal  rights,  free  schools,  plenty,  and  riches,  find 
this  indeed  to  be  the  land  of  promise  to  the  present  and 
succeeding  generations. 

The  sound  of  this  new  nation  has  pone  into  all  tne  worfd. 
It  has  reached  the  toiling  millions  of  Europe;  and  they  arc 


95 


96  OUR  NATIONAL  GREATNESS. 

swarming  to  our  shores  to  share  its  blessings.  It  has  gone 
to  the  islands  of  the  sea;  they  have  sent  their  living  con- 
tributions to  swell  its  busy  population.  It  has  reached  th? 
Orient,  and  opened,  as  with  a  password,  the  gates  of  nations 
long  barred  against  intercourse  with  other  powers;  and 
China  and  Japan,  turning  from  their  beaten  track  of  forty 
centuries  are  looking  with  wonder  at  the  prodigy  arising 
across  the  Pacific  to  the  east  of  them,  and  catching  some  of 
the  impulse  which  this  growing  power  is  imparting  to  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 

6.  Our  Scenery.— Our  flag  floats  ovor  a  land  that  is  more 
beautiful  than  any  other.  Behold  our  rivers,  placid  and 
tifrbulent,  winding  through  the  valleys  of  the  east  and 
threading  the  prairies  of  the  west.  Look  upon  our  moun- 
tains, presenting  views  of  grandeur  and  sublimity  on  every 
hand  with  occasional  peaks  where  eternal  snows  crown 
their  slopes  and  ice  jewels  their  brows;  visit  our  remarkable 
Yosemite  and  Yellowstone  Park,  where  are  found  some  of 
the  greatest  natural  wonders  of  the  world;  glance  upon 
Niagara  with  its  torrent  of  water  falling  over  the  precipice 
and  hastening  away  in  the  distance  to  the  mighty  ocean; 
then  turn  the  eye  toward  the  magnificent  prairies  of  the 
west  and  look  on  thousands  of  acres  in  rolling  splendor, 
voiced  with  vegetation  that  blooms  and  blossoms  like  the 
rose,  here  presenting  vast  acres  of  waving  grain,  gleaming 
at  setting  sun  in  tints  of  gold,  awaiting  to-morrow's  reaper, 
and  there  bringing  to  view  immense  herds  of  cattle  that 
will  soon  be  hastened  eastward  to  supply  the  markets  of 
our  cities  and  of  the  world;  once  again,  glance  over  mighty 
lakes,  burdened  with  a  commerce  almost  unsurpassed,  pass 
the  granite  hills  and  mountains  of  the  east  scattered  by  an 
Omnipotent  hand  to  beautify  the  landscape  and  pause  long 
enough  to  take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  immense  manufac- 
turing interests  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  where  toiling  multi- 
tudes are  earning  their  daily  bread  and  there  has  been 
exhibited  to  you  a  greater  and  grander  variety  of  scenery 
than  is  found  in  a  voyage  around  the  globe. 

7  Our  Agricultural  Products. — With  the  vast  area  of 
arable  land  much  of  which  is  exceedingly  fertile  there 
seems  to  be  but  a  small  percentage  of  food  crops  produced 
in  comparison  to  what  may  be  produced.  We  supply  our 
people  and  send  large  quantities  of  cereals  to  European 
markets.  The  variety  of  climate  gives  the  advantage  of 
producing  food  plants  of  cold  temperate  to  almost  tropical 
regions.  The  variety  of  cereals,  vegetables,  and  fruits  is 
unsurpassed,  while  the  quantity  leads  the  world. 
*  8.  Our  Mineral  Resources. — Nor  are  our  products 


O 

w 

tn 


87 


98  OUR  NATIONAL  GREATNESS. 

limited  to  our  soil,  for  underneath  the  soil  are  found  im- 
mense beds  of  minerals  that  need  but  be  opened  to  be 
turned  to  wealth.  Our  coal  fields  are  inexhaustible.  Iron, 
copper,  lead,  zinc,  and  the  precious  metals  are  found  in 
great  abundance  in  different  parts  so  that  it  is  not  an  idle 
boast  to  say  that  in  variety  and  richness  of  mineral  re- 
sources our  country  is  unsurpassed,  yea,  unequaled. 

9.  Our  National  Wealth.— The  wealth  of  the  United 
States  is  phenomenal.      The  total  true  valuation  of    all 
tangible  property,  not  including  bonds,  notes,  mortgages, 
stocks,  securities,  and  corporate  property,  in   the  United 
States,  exclusive  of  Alaska  in  the  census  of  1890  amounted 
to  $65,037,091,197  of  which  amount  $39,544,544,333  represents 
the  value  of  real  estate  and  improvements  thereon  and  the 
remainder  that  of  personal  property,  including  railroads, 
mines  and  quarries.     In  this  respect  we  eclipse  every  other 
nation  of  the  world  so  that  comparisons  are  maae  with 
difficulty.    Our  increase  in  wealth  is  without  a  parallel  in 
the  world's  history  and  yet  we  have  but  begun  to  develop 
our  resources. 

10.  Our  Constitutional  Liberties. — Our  creed  declares 
that  "all   men  are  created  free  and  equal,"  that  they  are 
"endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights; 
that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness."    It  has  passed  into  adage  that  ours  is  a  "government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people."    Hence, 
in  the  United  States,  every  man  is  a  Caesar,  a  sovereign,  a 
king,  not  by  decrees  of  men,  but  by  letters  patent  from  the 
court  of  Heaven,  and  by  the  authority  of  Almighty  God. 
How  glorious  our  her;    .ge!     How  enviable  our  lot! 

Once  enrolled  as  itizens  of  this  country,  we  may  go 
forth  hoping  to  win  any  position  in  the  gift  of  the  nation 
with  ten  thousand  agencies  awaiting  our  coming,  which 
offer  their  unsought  counsel  and  energy  to  urge  us  on  our 
way.  With  us  success  is  privileged.  The  humblest  child 
from  the  most  obscure  home  under  the  flag  of  our  Union 
has  an  equal  right  to  that  patronage  which  should  make 
him  great  among  men.  Of  us  Lord  Bacon  spoke  when  he 
said:  "It  remaineth  for  God  and  angels  to  be  lookers  on." 
For  in  an  American  race  every  man  has  a  right  to  lead  and 
a  chance  to  rule.  Birth  and  age  are  ruled  out.  Votes 
bring  in0 

The  modern  idea  that  the  government  exists  for  the  in- 
dividual has  abolished  slavery  and  elevated  womanhood,  so 
that  at  present  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  believe  that  even  in- 
the  early  years  of  this  century  it  was  not  an  uncommon  oc- 
currence for  an  Englishman  to  sell  his  wife  into  servitude.. 


100  OUR  NATIONAL  GREATNESS, 

r 

Incredulous  to  our  age  is  the  following  taken  from  The  New 
Monthly  Magazine  lor  September,  1814:  "Shropshire. — A 
well-looking  woman,  wife  of  John  Hall,  to  whom  she  had 
been  married  only  one  month,  was  brought  by  him  in  a 
halter,  and  sold  by  auction,  in  the  market,  for  two  and  six- 
pence, with  the  addition  of  sixpence  for  the  rope  with  which 
she  was  led.  In  this  sale  the  customary  market  fees  were 
charged — toll,  one  penny;  pitching,  three  pence." 

n.  Our  Industry. — This  is  emphatically  a  land  of  in- 
dustry. Without  work  we  cannot  succeed.  It  matters  not 
so  much  what  a  man  does,  so  long  as  it  be  legitimate  em- 
ployment, and  is  well  done.  Here  this  lesson  is  taught  as 
under  no  other  form  of  government. 

12.  Our  Ingenuity  is  the  marvel  of  the  world.    We  talk 
by  lightning  and  walk  by  steam     We  delve  the  mountains, 
bridge  the  oceans,  and  lasso  the  stars.    Our  patent  office 
reports  of  inventions  are  as  difficult  of  apprehension  to  for- 
eigners as  the  report  of  John's  apocalyptic  visions.    Tour- 
ists from   the   old  world  stand  or  ride  a-gape  and  a-stare, 
from  ocean  to  ocean. 

Inventiveness  is  a  national  trait.  At  the  International 
Electrical  Exposition  in  Paris  some  years  ago,  Jive  gold 
medals  were  given  for  the  greatest  inventions  or  discov- 
eries. Only  five  of  these  came  to  the  United  States 
Europe  acknowledges  that  we  have  the  best  machinery  and 
tools  in  the  world.  This  also  implies  that  we  have  the  best 
mechanics.  Even  Herbert  Spencer  says,  "Beyond  ques- 
tion, in  respect  of  mechanical  appliances,  the  Americans 
are  ahead  of  all  nations."  The  superior  ingenuity  and  in- 
telligence of  our  mechanics  command  the  respect  of  the 
world  and  place  our  manufacturing  products  foremost 
among  its  nations.  Our  progress  in  science  is  remarkable 
Our  Franklins  and  Morses,  Sillimans  and  Pierces,  Proctors 
and  Edisons,  are  tall  enough  to  be  seen  around  the  world. 
Even  provincial  Britain  and  Germany  do  us  homage  here.  . 

13.  Our  Philanthropy. — Here  again  we  challenge,  not 
pimply  the  intentions,  not  simply  the  admiration,  but  the 
astonishment  of    the   oldest    governments    of    the    earth 
Where  is  official  charity  so  boundless,  private  philanthropy 
so  open  handed,  and  real  beneficence    so  constant  and 
abundant  as  in   the  land  of  the  victorious  free  ?    What 
asylums  for  the  blind,  deaf,  dumb,  and  the  mind-benighted  1 
What  refuges  for  the  aged!     What  orphanages,  and  homes, 
and  retreats  for  abandoned  or  unfortunate  youth  or  aged! 
What  hospitals  for  the  receptions  of  the  sick  and  maimed.! 
What  associations  for  the  recovery  and  uplifting  of  fallen 
men  and  women!    We  do  not  say  that  other  nations  arg 


MONUMENTS  OF  AMERICAN  ENTERPRISE, 


102 


OUR  NATIONAL  GREATNESS.  103 

unphUanthropic  ;  but  we  do  claim  that,  in  open-handed  and 
munificent  philanthropy,  the  land  of  light  and  liberty,  and 
tne  cultured  heart,  leads  the  world. 

14.  Our  Educational  and  Religious  Institutions. — Edu- 
cation and  liberty  go  hand  in  hand.     The  benigned  influ- 
ences of  the  Christian  faith,  for  which  our  fathers  stood, 
have  made  us  what  we  are.     Without  their  influences  west- 
ern civilization  would  never  have  reached  the  pinnacle  it 
holds   to-day.    Our  educational  and  Christian   institutions 
are  the  bulwarks  of  our  nation.    Whoever  strikes  at  these 
strikes  at  our  government.    He  who  proposes  to  Romanize 
our  common  schools,  proposes  to  revolutionize  our  institu- 
tions— to  revolve  them  backward — Rome-ward,  slaveward 
and  deathward.    He  who  says,  "  Divide  the  public  funds 
that  we  may  educate  our  children  as  a  foreign,  un-American, 
anti-republican  pontiff  dictates,"  is  guilty  of  treason;  and 
he  who  says  :  "Away  with  your  American  educational  insti- 
tutions," is  an  assassin  in  intent,  and  levels  his  sword  at 
Columbia's    heart.      God    preserve    our    educational    and 
Christian  institutions ! 

15.  America  Holds  the  Future.— The  United  States  has 
occasion  for  profound  gratitude.   Our  heritage  is  rich  beyond 
measure.     Where  will  you  find  under  one  flag  so  many  truly 
great  men  ?    Where  so  many  whose  native  air  sweeps  down 
from  the  summits  of  moral  and  intellectual   Matterhorns  ? 
Where  more  unique,  compact,  full-orbed,  yet  disciplined, 
sanctified,  and  consecrated  individualities  than  in  "the  land 
ot  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave"  ?     Let  the  magnifi- 
cent procession  pass  in  grand  review,  while  the  nations  of 
the  earth  uncover.    Well  may  the  earth  tremble  and  rever- 
berate with  loudest  acclamations,  and  heaven  even  send 
down  her  choicest  congratulation. 

As  goesAmerica  so  goes  the  world  in  all  that  is  vital  to 
its  moral  welfare.  Our  inheritance  in  our  men,  our  Consti- 
tution, and  our  institutions,  how  great!  Only  the  tongue  of 
an  angel  could  tell  it ;  only  the  pen  of  an  archangel  could 
record  it.  And  yet  we  are  only  in  our  babyhood.  What 
prophet  can  arise  and  tell  us  what  the  possibilities  of  the 
future  are,  when  we  shall  have  attained  to  national,  educa- 
tional, moral,  and  spiritual  maturity  ?  Let  us  hallow  the 
memory  of  our  ancestors,  from  whom  we  have  inherited  so 
much.  Let  us  cherish,  with  loving  fidelity,  and  with  un- 
wavering patriotism  our  inheritance. 


1     i 


104 


ThREATENING  DANGERS.  105 

Threatening  Dangers. 

2.  Immigration. — At  the  beginning  of  1896  more  than 
seventeen  millions  (17,101,425)  of  foreigners  had  come  to 
our  shores  seeking  a  home  in  the  land  of  the  free.  Many 
of  these  have  become  citizens  of  moral  worth,  and  are  in 
perfect  harmony  with  our  free  and  Christian  institutions. 
They  are  doing  their  utmost  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  learned 
professions,  in  the  trades,  in  our  legislative  halls,  and  in  our 
homes  to  advance  and  to  perpetuate  American  interests, 
put  even  the  casual  observer  knows  that  this  does  not 
include  the  great  mass  of  foreigners  who  come  to  our  shores 
not  to  be  Americanized  or  Christianized.  With  the  idea 
that  license  to  do  wrong  is  American  liberty,  these  hordes 
of  the  criminal  and  baser  classes  of  Europe  are  crowding 
our  shores.  America's  hope  lies  in  our  power  to  elevate 
these  masses  in  the  scale  of  civilization  and  to  Americanize 
this  foreign  element.  An  exceedingly  large  per  cent  of  our 
criminals  are  foreigners.  True  Americans  must  rise  and 
bestir  themselves  if  we  are  not  to  be  overwhelmed  by  these 
undesirable  and  dangerous  classes. 

2.  Intemperance. — This  is  not  only  an  evil  that  degrades, 
demoralizes,  and  ruins  the  individual,  but  not  content  with 
its  work  of  death  upon  the  individual  it  seeks  to  p'erpetuate 
its  work  by  controlling  our  politics.    The  New  York  Times 
says  :     "  The  great  underlying  evil  which  paralyzes  every 
effort  to  get  good  laws  and  to  secure  the  enforcement  of 
these  we  have,  is  the  system  of  local  politics  which  gives 
the  saloon-keeper  more   power  over  government  than  is 
possessed  by  all  the  religious  and  educational  institutions 
combined."    Let  the  moral  and  religious  element  combine 
and  be  as  interested  in  the  question  as  those  carrying  on 
the  work  and  the  danger  in  this  respect  will  be  averted. 

3.  Centralization  of  Wealth.— The  great  disturbances 
in  labor  circles  result  largely  from  an  unequal  distribution 
of  wealth.     In  Europe  the  aristocracy  is  one  of  birth  ;  with 
us  it  is  one  of  wealth.     In  Europe  the  wealth  of  the  nation 
may  be  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  but  in  our  nation  where 
equality  is  the  watchword,  popular  discontent  threatens  the 
peace  and  safety  of  the  nation,  whenever  the  conditions  of 
society  are  such  that  the  many  are  controlled  and  governed 
by  the  influences  of  the  few  of  unlimited  means. 

The  centralization  of  wealth  in  our  country  is  strikingly 
shown  by  Mr.  Thomas  G.  Shearman,  in  an  article  in  the 
Forum.  It  is  clear  that  the  people  do  not  own  this  country, 
but  the  millionaires  do.  Mr.  Shearman  gives  a  list  of  persons 
and  estates  that  are  worth  $20,000,000  or  more.  Here  is  his 


106  THREATENING  DANGERS. 

list,  which,  though  its  accuracy  may  be  in  doubt,  certainly 
comes  near  enough  to  the  actual  figures  to  be  interesting, 
to  say  the  least : 

$150,000,000;  J.  J.  Astor,  Trinity  Church. 

$100,000,000;  C.  Vanderbilt,  W.  K.  Vanderbilt,  Jay  Gould, 
Leland  Stanford,  J.  D.  Rockefeller. 

$70.000,000;  Estate  of  A.  Packer. 

$60,000,000;  John  I.  Blair,  Estate  of  Charles  Crocker. 

$50,000,000;  Wm.  Astor.  W.  W.  Astor,  Russell  Sage,  E.  A. 
Stevens.  Estate  of  Moses  Taylor,  Estate  of  Brown  &  Ives. 

$40,000,000;  P.  D.  Armour,  F.  A.  Ames,  Wm.  Rockefeller. 
H.  M.  Flagler,  Power  &  Weightman,  Estate  of  P  Goelet. 

$35,000,000;  C.  P.  Huntington,  D.  O.  Mills,  Estates  of  T. 
A.  Scott  J.  W.  Garrett. 

$30,000,000;  G.  B.  Roberts,  Charles  Pratt,  RossWinans, 
E.  B.  Coxe,  Claus  Spreckels,  A.  Belmont,  R.  J.  Livingston, 
Fred  Weyerhauser,  Mrs.  Mark  Hopkins,  Mrs.  Hetty  Green, 
Estates  of  S.  V  Harkness  R.  W.  Coleman,  I.  M.  Singer. 

$25,000,000;  A.  J.  Dre'xel,  J.  S.  Morgan,  J.  P.  Morgan, 
Marshall  Field,  David  Dows,  J.  G.  Fair,  E.  T.  Gerry,  Estates 
of  Gov.  Fairbanks  A.  T.  Stewart,  A.  Schermerhorn. 

$22,500,000;  O/H.  Payne,  Estates  of  F.  A.  Drexel,  I.  V. 
Williamson,  W.  F.  Weld. 

$20,000,000;  F.  W.  Vanderbilt,  Theo.  Havemeyer.  W.  G. 
Warden,  W.  P.  Thompson,  Mrs.  Schenley,  J.  B.  Haggin.H. 
A.  Hutchins,  Estates  of  W.  Sloan,  E.  S.  Higgins,  C.  Tower, 
Wm.  Thaw,  Dr.  Hostetter,  Wm.  Sharon,  Peter  Donohuei  H. 
O.  Havemeyer. 

Mr.  Shearman,  in  the  course  of  his  article,  reaches  the 
conclusion  that  25,000  persons  own  one-half  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  the  whole  wealth  of  the  country  is  practi- 
cally owned  by  250,000  persons,  or  one  in  sixty  of  the  adult 
male  population ;  and  he  predicts,  from  the  rapid  recent 
concentration  of  wealth,  that,  under  present  conditions, 
50,000  persons  will  practically  own  all  the  wealth  of  the 
country  in  thirty  years. 

We  have  no  titled  aristocracy  in  this  country,  but  we  arc 
getting  an  aristocracy  of  wealth  more  dangerous.  The 
conflict  between  Labor  and  Capital  is  not  yet  near  its  end. 

4.  Government  of  Large  Cities. — Our  large  cities  are 
increasing  at  an  enormous  rate.  At  the  present  rate  the 
large  cities  of  a  state  will  soon  control  the  politics  of  a 
state.  This  is  already  true  in  some  states.  The  dangerous 
classes  are  found  in  our  larger  cities.  Here  the  govern- 
ment is  the  worst.  In  all  the  great  American  cities  there  is 
to-day  as  clearly  defined  a  ruling  class  as  in  the  most  aristo- 
cratic countries  in  the  world.  Its  members  carry  wards  in 


THREATENING   DANGERS. 


their  pockets,  make  up  the  slates  for  nominating  conven- 
tions, distribute  offices  as  they  bargain  together,  and 
though  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin,  wear  the  best 
of  raiment  and  spend  money  lavishly.  They  are  men 
of  power,  whose  favor  the  ambitious  must  court,  and 
whose  vengeance  he  must  avoid.  These  men  are  not 
the  wise,  the  learned,  the  good,  who  have  earned  the 
confidence  of  their  fellow  citizens  by  their  pure  lives,  their 
brilliant  talents,  their  faithfulness  in  public  trusts,  or  their 
ability  to  solve  the  problems  of  government.  They  are 
rather  the  gambler,  the  saloon  keeper,  the  men  who  control 
votes  by  buying  and  selling  offices  and  official  acts.  De 
Tocqueville  wrote  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  "I  look  upon 
the  size  of  certain  American  cities,  and  especially  upon  the 
nature  of  their  population,  as  a  real  danger  which  threatens 
the  security  of  the  Democratic  republics  of  the  New 
World."  That  danger  has  grown  immensely  during  the 
last  fifty  years  and  is  to-day  more  real  and  imminent  than 
ever. 

5.  A  Corrupt  and  Ignorant  Ballot. — There  is  no  greater 
or  more  surely  destructive  danger  than  that  of  the  ballot  in 
the  hands  of  ignorant  or  wicked  men.  Here  where  the  bal- 
lot counts  for  our  liberties,  nothing  should  be  held  more 
sacred.  The  importance  of  the  subject  demands  its  fur- 
ther consideration  on  a  succeeding  page. 


THE  MAN  WHO  NEVER  READS  THE  PAPERS, 
But  Votes  His  Party  Ticket  Straight, 


CHAPTER  III. 

INVENTORS  AND  INVENTIONS. 


Great  Events  of  the  ipth  Century 

The  chief  glory  of  America  is,  that  it  is  the  country  in 
which  genius  and  industry  find  their  speediest  and  surest 
reward.  Fame  and  fortune  are  here  open  to  all  who  are 
willing  to  work  for  them.  Neither  differences  of  birth  nor 
of  religion,  neither  class  distinctions  nor  social  prejudices 
can  prevent  the  man  of  true  merit  from  winning  the  just 
reward  of  his  labors  in  this  favored  land.  And  yet  we  are 
not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  only  a  few  of  the  nation's 
great  men  are  remembered  in  history  and  also  of  the  fact 
that  men  of  inventive  genius  were  subjected  to  ridicule  and 
scorn  and  often  were  compelled  to  labor  in  abject  poverty 
and  through  years  of  disheartening  hinderances  before  they 
.succeeded  in  convincing  the  world  of  their  true  worth. 

108 


THE  COTTON  GIN.  109 

"The  madhouse  is  the  proper  place  for  him,"  was  said  of 
Charles  Goodyear  who  under  the  most  trying  adversity  dis- 
covered the  secret  of  controlling  India  rubber.  Edison  was 
dubbed  "luny"  because  of  his  inventive  genius.  Indeed 
before  most  of  the  useful  discoveries  and  inventions  of  to- 
day were  perfected  the  public  regarded  them  as  chimerical 
and  the  product  of  an  unbalanced  mind.  Their  projectors 
were  despised  and  abused  while  only  the  Great  Eye  that 
reads  all  hearts  saw  the  anguish  that  wrung  the  hearts  of 
these  noble  men,  and  knew  the  more  than  heroic  firmness 
with  which  in  the  midst  of  their  poverty  and  suffering, 
they  agonized  to  perfect  their  inventions  and  discoveries. 
Some  of  them  were  not  permitted  to  see  the  ultimate  tri- 
umph of  their  labors  before  remorse,  neglect,  and  insolvency 
hurried  them  to  an  untimely  grave.  Others  like  Dr.  Wm.  T. 
G.  Morton,  who  discovered  the  use  of  ether,  and  Goodyear 
were  harrassed  and  their  right  trampled  upon  by  a  sordid 
and  licentious  class  of  infringers. 

To  know  the  history  of  these  great  men  and  their  works, 
to  comprehend  in  a  measure  the  privations  and  hardships 
of  this  worthy  class  to  whom  our  marvelous  prosperity  is 
due,  to  realize  the  success  attending  others,  cheers  and  en- 
courages every  noble  youth. 


The  Cotton  Gin. 

The  Cotton  gin  is  a  machine  for  freeing  cotton  from  its 
seeds,  which  adhere  to  the  fibre  with  considerable  tenacity. 
Originally,  the  cotton  gin  was  an  apparatus  in  which  the 
cotton  was  passed  between  two  rollers  revolving  in  opposite 
directions.  This,  the  "roller  gint"  is  still  used  for  ginning 
sea-island  or  black-seeded  cotton,  which  is  quite  easily  freed 
from  its  seeds.  But  green-seeded,  upland  or  short-staple 
cotton,  the  species  most  generally  grown,  cannot  be  ginned 
by  such  simple  means.  In  1793  Mr.  Eli  Whitney,  a  native 
or  Massachusetts,  resident  in  Georgia,  invented  the  saw  gin, 
consisting  of  a  hopper,  one  side  of  which  is  composed  of 
parallel  wires,  between  which  revolve  circular  saws,  the 
teeth  of  which  drag  the  fiber  through  the  wires,  leaving  the 
seed  behind.  This  invention,  which  brought  Mr.  Whitney 
small  profit  and  much  litigation,  has  immensely  increased 
the  cotton  industry  of  the  world.  The  United  States  leads 
the  world  in  inventive  genius,  and  the  vast  cotton  industry, 
which  has  so  wonderfully  cheapened  the  production  of  cot- 
ton cloth,  is  largely  due  to  the  pluck  and  perseverence  of 
American  skill. 
8 


110  STORY    OF    THE    FIRST   SEWING    MACHINE. 


Whitney's   Cotton    Gin.  1793. 

Mr.  Whitney  was  born  in  Massachusetts.  His  unusual 
mechanical  genius  aided  him  in  overcoming  the  difficulties 
of  poverty.  By  his  own  earnings  he  was  enabled  to  gradu- 
ate at  Yale  in  1792.  Going  south  to  seek  employment  as  a 
teacher,  his  attention  was  called  to  the  difficulties  of  clean- 
ing the  seeds  from  the  cotton.  Despite  many  discouraging 
circumstances  he  succeeded  in  inventing  a  machine  that 
brought  many  millions  of  dollars  to  the  south.  Piratical 
infringers  robbed  this  greatest  of  benefactors  and  he  would 
have  died  in  poverty  had  he  not  turned  his  attention  to  the 
improvement  of  fire  arms,  by  means  of  which  he  acquired  a 
fortune. 

Story  of  the  First  Sewing  Machine. 

I.  Elias  Howe,  Jr.—  It  would  be  impossible  to  follow 
Mr.  Howe  through  all  the  details  of  his  varied  experience 
during  his  early  years.  Suffice  .it  to  say,  that  it  was  at  Bos- 
ton, when  in  his  twentieth  year,  and  after  he  had  learned 
the  rudiments  of  his  trade  in  one  of  the  machine  shops  of 
Lowell,  and  subsequently  in  Cambridge,  working  side  by 
side  with  Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  that  the  thought  of  sewing  by 
machinery  was  first  suggested  to  his  mind. 


EUAS  HOWE,  INVENTOR  OF  THE  SEWING 
MACHINE. 

Ill 


112  STORY   OF   THE   FIRST   SEWING   MACHINE. 

2.  The  Origin.— In  the  year  1839  two  men  in  Boston, 
one  a  mechanic  and  the  other  a  capitalist,  were  striving  to 
produce  a  knitting  machine,  which  proved  to  be  a  task 
oeyond  their  strength.    When  the  inventor  was  at  his  wits' 
end  his  capitalist  brought  the  machine  to  the  shop  of  Ari 
Davis,  to  see  if  that  eccentric  genius  could  suggest  the  solu- 
tion of  the  difficulty,  and  make  the  machine  work.    The 
shop,  resolving  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole,  gath- 
ered about  the  knitting  machine   and  its  proprietor,  and 
were  listening  to  an  explanation  of  its  principle. 

Among  the  workmen  who  stood  by  and  listened  to  this 
conversation — and  in  this  instance  at  least  the  old  adage 
concerning  listeners  appears  to  have  been  reversed — says 
Parton,  was  Howe;  and  from  that  time  he  was  in  the  habit, 
in  his  leisure  moments,  of  meditating  devices  for  sewing  by 
machinery.  Having  inherited  a  constitution  hardly  strong 
enough  for  the  work  of  a  machinist,  and  burdened  even  in 
his  opening  manhood  with  the  care  of  a  growing  family,  his 
attention  was  more  and  more  concentrated  upon  the  proj- 
ect of  building  a  machine  which  would  furnish  him  a  liveli- 
.  hood  more  easily  earned.  In  December,  1845,  upon  a  small 
capital  provided  by  the  generosity  of  an  old  friend,  he  shut 
himself  up  in  a  garret  at  Cambridge  and  set  himself  seri- 
ously to  the  task  of  inventing  a  sewing  machine. 

3.  Six  Months  of  Incessant  Labor. — After  about   six 
months  of  incessant  labor  and  reflection  he  produced  the 
first  machine  that  ever  sewed  a  seam,  and  he  was  soon  the 
wearer  of  a  suit  of  clothes. made  by  its  assistance.   This  first 
machine,  which  is  one  of  great  beauty  and  finish,  is  still  in 
existence,  an  object  of  peculiar  interest  to  the  curious  who 
inspect  it;  and  it  will  sew  ten  times  as  fast  as  a  woman  can 
sew  by  hand. 

4.  Begging  a  Shilling. — Having  patented  the  machine, 
and  finding  the  tailors  of  America  averse  to  its  introduction, 
he  went  to  England,  where  he  succeeded  in  selling  two  ma- 
chines; but  found  so  little  encouragement  that  he  would 
have  starved  to  death  but  for  the  aid  of  friends,  and  he  re- 
solved to  return  home  or  at  least  to  send  his  family.    So 
pinched  was  he  while  in  London,  that  he  frequently  borrowed 
small  sums  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Inglis— on  one  occasion  a  shil- 
ling, with  which  he  bought  some  beans,  and  cooked  and  ate 
them  in  his  own  room,  and  through  him  also  obtained  some 
credit  for  provisions. 

5.  Conspicuous  Object  of  Public  Attention. — Arriving* 
home  after  an  absence  of  about  two  years,  he  found  that  the 
sewing  machine  was  a  conspicuous  object  of  public  attention; 
doubt  had  been  succeeded  by  admiration  of  its  qualities; 


PROF.  MORSE'S  TRIAL.  113 

and  several  ingenious  men  having  experimented,  had  finally 
improved  upon  the  machine  as  originally  constructed.  A 
war  of  litigation  ensued,  and,  after  several  years,  Mr.  Howe's 
claim  to  be  the  original  inventor  was  legally  and  irreversibly 
established,  the  judge  deciding  that  "there  was  no  evidence 
which  left  a  shadow  of  doubt  that,  for  all  the  benefit  con- 
ferred upon  the  public  by  the  introduction  of  a  sewing  ma- 
chine, the  public  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Howe."  To  him, 
therefore,  all  other  inventors,  or  improvers  had  to  pay  a  trib- 
ute. From  being  a  poor  man,  Howe,  became  in  a  few 
years  one  of  the  most  noted  millionaires  in  America;  and 
his  bust  executed  by  Ellis,  show?  a  man  of  marked  personal 
appearance  and  striking  natural  endowments. 


Prof.  Morse's  Trial. 

Prof.  Morse  was  a  man  of  remarkable  ability  and  per- 
severance, and  was  largely  respected  in  his  profession  as 
a  teacher.  When  he  took  up  the  subject  of  the  study  of 
electricity,  and  began  to  discuss  his  discoveries  with  friends, 
they  soon  began  to  shake  their  heads  with  doubt,  and  ques- 
tion his  sanity.  But,  like  all  other  inventors,  he  was  poor, 
and  his  ideas  gained  but  little  favor  or  consideration  among 
his  friends.  He  was  ridiculed,  denounced  as  a  lunatic  and 
a  "crank;"  but  he  was  an  American,  and  had  inherited, 
with  his  inventive  genius,  the  true  American  spirit  of  push 
and  pluck.  He  persevered,  and  bravely  trampled  down 
the  taunts  and  jeers  heaped  upon  him,  and  when  the  grand 
day  of  triumph  came  all  were  ready  to  do  him  honor.  The 
friends  who  had  refused  to  assist  him  —  the  friends  who 
had  laughed  at  him  and  scorned  his  friendship  —  were  now 
thi»  first  boasting  his  praise. 

Prof.  Morse  went  to  Europe,  and  begged  of  the  European 
authorities  to  consider  his  proposition,  patent  his  invention, 
and  receive  the  benefits  of  its  wonder-working  service.  But 
he  was  turned  away  without  encouragement;  he  returned 
home  to  his  native  land,  and  only  at  the  last  moment  xiid 
Congress  favorably  consider  his  proposition,  and  finally 
recognized  his  wonderful  invention  which  has  revolution- 
ized the  business  of  the  world. 

Prof.  Samuel  Morse,  LL.  D.,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Rev.  J.  Morse, 
D.  D.,  born  at  Charlestown,  in  1791.  He  was  a  graduate  at  Yale  college. 
In  1810  he  went  to  England  to  study  painting,  and  in  1813  received  a 
gold  inedal  for  his  first  effort  in  sculpture.  He  returned  to  New  York 
in  1815  and  became  president  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design,  and 


PROF.  SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE, 
The  Inventor  of  the  Electric  Telegraph, 
114 


PROF.   MORSE  S  TRIAL. 


115 


was  soon  appointed  professor  of  the  arts  and  designs  in  the  University 
of  New  York.  He  did  not  give  his  entire  attention  to  art,  but  was  in- 
terested in  chemistry,  and  especially  in  electrical  and  galvanic  exper- 
iments, anjl  on  a  voyage  from  Havre  to  New  York,  in  1832,  he  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  a  magnetic  telegraph,  which  he  exhibited  to  Con- 
gress in  1837,  and  vainly  attempted  to  patent  in  England.  His  claims 
to  priority  of  invention  over  Prof.  Wheatstone,  in  England,  have  been 
the  siibject  of  considerable  controversy.  He  struggled  on  with  scanty 
moans  until  1843,  when,  as  he  almost  yielded  to  despair,  Congress,  at 
midnight,  and  at  the  last  moment  of  the  session,  appropriated  $30,000 
for  an  experimental  line  between  Washington  and  Baltimore.  For  his 
important  telegraphic  invention,  Dr.  Morse  was  rewarded  by  testimo- 
nials, honorary  orders  of  nobility  and  wealth.  The  magnitude  of  his 
discovery  being  acknowledged  universally,  several  European  States 
joined  in  presenting  him  a  purse  of  400,000  francs;  and  splendid  ban- 
quets were  given  him  in  London  and  Paris.  He  died  in  New  York. 
April  2, 1872. 


The  First  Telegraph  Instrument— 1837 


116 


STORY  OF  THE  FIRST  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 


The  House  where  the  First  Telegraph  Instruments 
were   Made. 

Story  of  the  First  Electric  Tele- 
graph. 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  of  New  York,  during  a  voyage 
home  from  France  in  1832,  conceived  the  idea  of  making 
signs  at  a  distance  by  means  of  a  pencil  moved  by  an 
electro-magnet  and  a  single  conducting  circuit,  the  paper 
being  moved  under  the  pencil  by  clockwork.  He  con- 
structed a  working  model  of  his  invention  in  1836,  and  ex- 


118  LAYING   OF    THE   ATLANTIC   CABLE. 

hibited  it  to  several  persons  the  same  year,  but  not  publicly 
until  1837.  Several  years  were  devoted  to  improving  the 
invention  and  endeavoring  to  interest  the  public  in  the  proj- 
ect. It  was  not  until  1844  that  the  first  public  line  was 
completed  between  Washington  and  Baltimore  (40  miles), 
and  the  first  message  transmitted  May  27  of  that  year. 
Within  a  few  years,  however,  lines  were  extended  to  the 
principal  cities  of  the  United  States.  The  Morse  telegraph 
was  introduced  in  Germany  in  1847,  whence  it  has  spread 
all  over  the  Eastern  hemisphere,  and  may  now  be  said  to 
be  the  universal  telegraph  of  thi  world. 


Laying  of  the  Atlantic  Cable. 

The  success  of  this  undertaking  at  once  revived  the 
suggestion  of  laying  a  cable  across  the  Atlantic  ocean  from 
Ireland  to  Newfoundland.  In  1854  the  attention  of  Mr. 
Cyrus  W.  Field,  of  New  York,  was  directed  to  the  subject, 
and  mainly  through  his  efforts  a  company  was  formed, 
principally  of  English  capitalists,  to  undertake  the  enter- 
prise. The  first  attempt  was  made  in  August,  1857,  but  it 
was  unsuccessful,  the  cable  parting  300  miles  from  shore. 
The  following  year  the  attempt  was  renewed,  and  the  enter- 
prise successfully  completed  August  5, 1858.  The  electrical 
condition  of  the  cable  was  faulty  at  first,  but  signals  and 
communications  were  exchanged  with  more  or  less  facility 
until  September  1,  when  the  cable  failed  altogether.  During 
this  time  366  messages,  containing  3,942  words,  were  inter- 
changed between  Europe  and  America.  Several  attempts 
to  pick  up  and  repair  the  cable  were  made  without  success, 
and  this  disastrous  result  discouraged  further  enterprise  in 
the  same  direction  for  a  number  of  years.  The  experience 
gained,  however,  was  of  the  highest  value,  and  the  success 
of  the  Malta  and  Alexandria  (1861),  Persian  Gulf  (1864),  and 
other  deep  sea  cables,  led  to  the  renewal  of  the  attempt  to 
cross  the  Atlantic  in  1865,  which  again  resulted  in  the  break- 
ing of  the  cable  after  1,186  miles  had  been  laid  out.  The 
following  year,  however,  a  new  cable  was  successfully  sub- 
merged, being  landed  at  Newfoundland  in  perfect  working 
order  July  27, 1866,  and  the  great  problem  was  thus  at  last 
definitely  solved.  In  September  following  the  lost  cable  of 
1865  was  picked  up  and  completed.  From  that  date  such 
rapid  progress  has  been  made  in  the  extension  of  telegraphic 
cables  that  at  the  present  time  no  isolated  system  of  tel- 
egraphs is  to  be  found  throughout  the  world. 


JUDGE  STEPHEN  VAIL, 

The  First  Manufacturer  and  Improver  of  Telegraph 
Instruments. 


119 


120  STORY    OF    THE    FIRST   STEAMBOAT. 

Different  Submarine  Lines. 

The  first  submarine  lines  were  simply  ordinary  iron 
wires  coated  with  gutta-percha  to  a  diameter  of  half  an 
inch.  In  the  cable  laid  between  Dover  and  Calais  in  1851, 
four  gutta-percha  coated  conducting  wires  were  wrapped 
with  hemp  and  enclosed  in  a  wire  rope  for  protection.  This 
general  plan  has  been  followed  in  all  cables  since  con- 
structed. The  Atlantic  cables  are  composed  of  a  copper 
strand  of  seven  wires,  forming  the  conductor,  surrounded  by 
four  layers  of  gutta-percha  and  covered  by  a  serving  of 
jute;  outside  of  this  is  a  protecting  armor  of  ten  wires  of 
homogeneous  iron,  each  enveloped  in  fine  strands  of  manilla 
hemp.  In  shallow  waters,  where  cables  are  exposed  to  in- 
jury from  anchors,  the  armor  is  often  made  enormously 
thick  and  heavy,  sometimes  weighing  as  much  as  twenty 
tons  per  mile.  There  are  now  more  than  ten  cables  across 
the  Atlantic. 


The  First  Steamboat  in  the  World. 

The  first  application  of  steam  to  navigation  that  showed 
any  evidence  of  success  was  made  in  this  country  in  1788, 
by  John  Fitch,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Printing  Telegraphs. 

The  idea  of  a  telegraph  which  should  record  message-- 
in printed  Roman  letters  is  due  to  Alfred  Vail,  of  New  Jer 
sey  (1837).  The  first  model  of  such  an  instrument  was  madt 
by  Wheatstone  (1841).  House's  Telegraph.- This  wai 

the  earliest  practical  printing  instrument.  It  was  introduced 
in  1847,  and  largely  used  in  the  United  States  until  about 
1860.  It  is  simple  in  principle,  though  somewhat  compli 
cated  in  construction. 


FIRST  STEAMBOAT. 


121 


is  a  correct  illustration,  was  60  feet  long,  8  feet  wide,  and  4 
feet  deep,  and  worked  by  paddles.  The  trial  trip,  at  which 
the  governor,  and  many  distinguished  men  were  present, 
was  made  over  a  mile  course  in  front  of  Water  street,  Phil- 
adelphia. Although  the  experiment  was  considered  suc- 
cessful, the  project  was  abandoned,  and  it  was  left  to 
Robert  Fulton  to  practically  demonstrate  the  theories  of 
steam  navigation. 


Fulton's  First  Steamboat. 

Fulton's  First  Steamboat. 

1.  Robert  Fulton. — At  what  time  Mr.  Fulton's  mind  wa~- 
first  directed  to  steam  navigation  is  not  definitely  known, 
but  even  in  1793  he  had  matured  a  plan  in  which  he  re- 
posed great  confidence.      No  one  previous  to  Mr.  Fulton 
had  constructed  a  steamboat  in  any  other  way,  or  with  any 
result,  than  as  an  unsuccessful  experiment,  and  although 
many  have  disputed  his  right  to  the  honor  of  the  discovery, 
none  have  done  so  with  any  semblance  of  justice. 

2.  Mr.  Livingston. — The  Legislature,  in  March,  1798, 
passed  an  act  vesting  Mr.  Livingston  with  the  exclusive 
right  and  privilege  of  navigating  all  kinds  of  boats  which 
might  be  propelled  by  the  force  of  fire  or  steam,  on  all  the 
waters  within  the  territory  or  jurisdiction  of  the  state  of 
New  York,  for  a  term  of  twenty  years  from  the  passing  of 
the  act,  upon  condition  that  he  should,  within  a  twelve- 
month, build  such  a  boat  the  mean  of  whose  progress 
should  not  be  less  than  four  miles  an  hour. 


122  FIRST  STEAMBOAT 

3.  Interesting  Circumstances. — According  to  Mr.  Living- 
ston's own  account  of  these  most  interesting  circumstances, 
it  appears  that,  when  residing  as  minister  plenipotentiary 
of  the  United   States   in  France,  he  there  met  with   Mr 
Fulton  and  they  formed  that  friendship  and   connection 
with  each  other  to  which  a  similarity  of  pursuits  naturally 
gives  birth.      He  communicated  to  Mr.  Fulton  his  views  of 
the  importance  of  steamboats  to  their  common   country; 
informed  him  of  what  had  been  attempted  in  America,  and 
of  his  resolution  to  resume  the  pursuit  on  his  return,  and  ad- 
vised him  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  subject.  It  was  agreed 
between  them  to  embark  in  the  enterprise,  and  immediately 
to  make  such  experiments  as  would  enable  them  to  deter- 
mine how  far,  in  spite  of  former  failures,  the  object  was 
attainable.     The  principal  direction  of  these  experiments 
was  left  to  Mr.  Fulton. 

4.  Building  a  Boat. — On  the  arrival   at  New  York  ol 
Mr.  Fulton,  which  was  not  until  1806,  they  immediately  en- 
gaged in  building  a  boat  of— as  was  then   thought — very 
considerable  dimensions,  for  navigating  the  Hudson.    The 
boat  named  the  Clermont,  was  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
tons  burden,  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  long,  eighteen 
feet  wide  and  seven  feet  deep.      The  diameter  of  the  pad- 
dle-wheels was  fifteen  feet,  the  boards  four  feet  long  and 
the  drippings  two  feet   in  water.     She  was  a  queer  look- 
ing craft,  and,  while  on  the  stocks,  excited  much  attention 
and  no  small  amount  of  ridicule. 

5.  She  Was  Launched. — When  she  was  launched  and 
the  steam  engine  placed  in  her,  that  also  was  looked  upon 
as  being  of  a  piece  with  the  boat  built  to  float  it.  ^  A  few 
had  seen  one  at  work  raising  the  Manhattan  water  into  the 
reservoir  back  of  the  almshouse;  but,  to  the  people  at  large, 
the  whole  thing   was   a    hidden    mystery.      Curiosity  was 
greatly  excited.     Nor  will  the  reader  be  at  all  surprised  at 
the  statement  made  by  an  eye-witness  and  narrator  of  these 
events,  that  when   it    was  announced    in    the   New  Ycrl< 
papers  that  the  boat  would  start  from  Cortlandt  street  at 
six    and   a  half  o'clock  on   Friday   morning,    the    4th  of 
August,  and  take  passengers  1o  Albany,  there  was  a  broad 
smile  on  every  face,  as  the  inquiry  was  made,  if  any  one 
would  be  fool  enough  to  go? 

6.  She    Started. — When    Friday    morning    came    the 
wharves,  piers,  house-tops    from  which  a  sight  could  be 
obtained  were  filled  with  spectators.    There  were  twelve 
berths,  and  every  one  was  taken  through  to  Albany.    The 
fare    was    $7.      All    the  machinery    was  uncovered   and 
exposed    to    view.     The    after-part   was    fitted   up  in  a 


FIRST   STEAMBOAT, 


123 


ROBERT  FULTON. 

rough  manner  for  passengers.  The  entrance  into  the, 
cabin  was  from  the  stern,  in  front  of  the  steersman,  who 
worked  a  tiller,  as  in  an  ordinary  sloop.  Black  smoke 
issued  from  the  chimney;  steam  issued  from  every  ill-fitted 
valve  and  crevice  of  the  engine.  Fulton  himself  was  there. 
His  remarkably  clear  and  sharp  voice  was  heard  above  the 
hum  of  the  multitude  and  the  noise  of  the  engine;  his  step 
was  confident  and  decided;  he  heeded  not  the  fearfulness, 
doubts,  or  sarcasm  of  those  by  whom  he  was  surrounded. 
The  whole  scene  combined  had  in  it  an  individuality,  as 
well  as  an  interest,  which  comes  but  once  and  is  re- 
membered forever. 

Everything  being  ready  the  engine  was  set  in  motion, 
and  the  boat  moved  steadily  but  slowly  from  the  wharf.  As 
she  turned  up  the  river  and  was  fairly  under  way  there 
arose  such  a  huzza  as  ten  thousand  throats  never  gave  be- 


f24  STORY   OF   THK   FIRST   RAILROAt). 

fore.  The  passengers  returned  the  cheer,  but  Fulton  stood 
upon  the  deck,  his  eyes  flashing  with  an  unusual  brilliancy 
as  he  surveyed  the  crowd.  He  felt  that  the  magic  wand  of 
success  was  waving  over  him,  and  he  was  silent. 

7.  The  Complete  Success. — The  complete  success  at- 
tending steam  navigation  on  the  Hudson  and  the  neighbor- 
ing waters,  previous  to  the  year  1809,  turned  the  attention 
of  the  principal  projectors  to  the  idea  of  its  application  on 
the  western  waters;  and  in  the  month  of  April,  of  that  year, 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  of  New  York,  pursuant  to  an  agreement 
with  Chancellor  Livingston  and  Mr.  Fulton,  visited  those 
rivers  with  the  purpose  of  forming  an  opinion  whether  they 
admitted  of  steam  navigation  or  not.    Mr.  Roosevelt  sur 
veyed  the  rivers  from  Pittsburg  to  New  Orleans,  and  as  his 
report  was  favorable  it  was  decided  to  build  a  boat  at  the 
former  place.     This  was  done  under  his  direction,  and  in 
the  year  1811  the  first  boat  was  launched  on  the  waters  of 
the  Ohio.     It  was  called  the  New  Orleans. 

8.  Rapid    Growth. — From   the   date  of   Mr.   Fulton's 
triumph  in  1807  steam  navigation  became  a  fixed  fact  in  the 
United  States,  and  went  on  extending  with   astonishing 
rapidity.    Nor  could  a  different  result  have  been  rationally 
expected  in  such  a  country  as  America. 

Story  of  the  First  Railroad. 

1.  Business  Changes. — Perhaps  no  invention  of  the 
present  century  has  produced  such  widespread  social  and 
business  changes  as  that  of  steam  locomotion  on  railways. 
Not  only  have  places  that  were  formerly  more  than  a  day's 
journey  from  each  other  been  made  accessible  in  a  very 
tew  hours,  but  the  cost  of  traveling  has  been  so  much /e- 
duced,  that  the  expense  has  in  a  great  degree  long  ceased 
to  operate  as  a  bar  to  communication  by  railway  for  busi- 
ness or  pleasure,  and  the  usual  channels  of  trade  have  been 
most  profitably  abandoned  or  superseded,  with  the  greatest 
benefits  to  every  interest  involved. 

2.  The  History  of  Railways.— That  the  history  of  rail- 
ways shows  what  grand  results  may  have  their  origin  in 
small  beginnings,  is  no  less  true  than  that  the  power  of 
capital  is  seen  in  this  as  in  all  other  great  material  enter- 
prises.   In  evidence  of  the  former  truth,  Dr.  Lyell,  men- 
tions the  interesting,  though  of  course,  well-known,  fact, 
that,  when  coal  was  first  conveyed  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Newcastle-on-Tyne,  from  the  pit  of  the  shipping  place,  the 
pack  horse,  carrying  a  burden  of  three  hundred  weight^ 
was  the  only  mode  of  transport  employed  as  soon  as  roads 


STORY   OF   THE   FIRST   RAILROAD. 


125 


The  First  Railroad  Engine-1  829. 

suitable  for  wheeled  carriages  were  formed,  carts  were  in- 
troduced, and  this  first  step  in  mechanical  appliances  to 
facilitate  transport  had  the  effect  of  increasing  the  load 
which  the  horse  was  enabled  to  carry,  from  three  hundred 
to  seventeen  hundred  weight. 

3.  Wooden  Bars  or  Rails  for  the  Wheels.— The  next 
improvement  consisted  in  laying  wooden  bars  or  rails  for 
the  wheels  of  carts  to  run  upon,  and  this  was  followed  by 
the  substitution  of  the  four-wheeled  wagon  for  the  two- 
wheeled  cart.    By  this  further  application  of  mechanical 
principles,  the  original  horse  load  of  three  hundred  weight 
was  augmented  to  forty-two  hundred.    These  were  indeed 
important  results,  and  they  were  not  obtained  without  the 
shipwreck  of  many  a  fortune. 

4.  Attachment  of  Slips  of  Iron.— The  next   step   of 
progress  in  this  direction  was  the  attachment  of  slips  of  iron 
to  the  wooden  rails.    Then  came  the  iron  tramway,  the  up- 
right flange  of  the  bar  acting,  in  this  arrangement,  as  a 
guide  to  keep  the  wheel  on  the  track.    The  next  advance 
was  an  important  one,  and  consisted  in  transferring  the 

8 


126  STORY   OP   THE   FIRST   RAILROAD. 

guiding  flange  from  the  rail  to  the  wheel,  an  improvement 
which  enabled  cast  iron  edge  rails  to  be  used. 

5.  Iron  Rails.— Finally,  in  1820,  after  the  lapse  of  many 
years,  from  the  first  employment  of  wooden  bars,  wrought 
iron  raits,  rolled  in  long  lengths,  and  of  suitable  sections, 
were  made  and  in  time  superseded  all  other  forms  of  rail- 
ways,  coming  finally  to  the  superb  steel  rails  of  later  days. 
Of  the  locomotive  engine,  which  makes  it  possible  to  convey 
a  load  of  hundreds  of  tons  at  a  cost  of  fuel  scarcely  exceed- 
ing that  of  the  provender  which  the  original  pack-horse 
consumed  in  conveying  its  load  of  three  hundred  pounds  an 
equal  distance,  it  may  justly  be  called  one  of  the  crowning 
achievements  of  mechanical  science. 

6.  The   Locomotive  Engine. — No  sooner    is    a    road 
formed  fit  for  wheeled  carriages  to  pass  along,  than  the  cart 
takes  the  place  of  the  pack-saddle;  no  sooner  is  the  wooden 
railway  provided,  than  the  wagon  is  substituted  for  the  cart; 
no  sooner  is  an  iron  railway  formed,  capable  of  carrying 
heavy  loads,  than  the  locomotive  engine  is  ready  to  com- 
mence its  wonderful  career,  and  so  on  ad  infinitum. 


The   First  Railroad  Train. 

7.  The  First  Railroad. — The  characteristic  enterprise 
of  Americans  did  not  fail  them  in  this  era  of  transformatioH 
and  advancement.  The  first  railroad  attempted  in  the 
United  States  was  a  crude  and  temporary  affair  in  Boston — 
a  double-track  arrangement  for  removing  gravel  from 
Beacon  Hill,  and  so  contrived  that,  while  one  train  de- 
scended the  hill  with  its  load,  the  empty  train  would  thereby 
be  hauled  up  for  loading.  A  more  positive  effort  in  this 
jine,  and  more  really  deserving  the  name  of  railway,  and 


STORY   OF   THE   FIRST   RAILROAD. 


Modern    Dining  Car. 

consequently  honored  by  historians  with  the  term  of  priority, 
was  that  constructed  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  for  the  purpose  of 
transporting  granite  from  the  quarry  at  that  place  to  the 
Neponset  River,  a  distance  of  about  four  miles;  it  was  a 
single-track  road,  with  a  width  of  five  feet  between  the 
rails,  the  latter  being  of  pine,  covered  with  oak  and  overlaid 
with  thin  plates  of  wrought  iron;  and  the  passage  from  the 
quarry  to  the  landing,  of  a  car  carrying  ten  tons,  with  a 
single  horse  was  performed  in  ah  hour.  This  was  completed 
in  1827,  and  the  affair  created  much  interest. 

8.  The  First  Use  of  a  Locomotive. — The  first  use  of 
a  locomotive  in  this  country  was  in  1829,  and  was  used  on 
the  railroad  built  by  the  Delaware  &  Hudson  Company. 
From  this  fairly  dates,  therefore,  American  railway  travel, 
with  steam  as  the  locomotive  power.  So  popular  was  this 
means  of  transit,  however,  that,  in  thirty  years  from  the 
time  of  its  small  beginning,  more  than  30,000  miles  of  the 
iron  road  traversed  the  country  in  different  directions;  this 
number  of  miles  increasing  to  some  80,000  in  1879,  with 
nearly  15,000  locomotives,  and  a  capital  of  rising  four  and  a 
half  billions, 


128  STORY   OF   THE   FIRST   STREET   CAR. 


JOHN   STEPHENSON. 

Story  of  the  First  Street  Car. 

John  Stephenson,  who  has  just  died  at  his  home  in  New 
Rochelle,  Westchester  county,  N.  Y.,  had  a  career  that 
is  another  instance  of  the  business  capacity,  untiring  energy 
and  thrifty  shrewdness  of  the  people  of  the  Scotch-Irish 
race.  He  was  brought  to  this  country  when  he  was  two 
years  old,  and  though  of  foreign  birth  he  was  nevertheless 
in  sentiment  and  training  thoroughly  American.  A  sketch 
of  his  life  would  be  a  history  of  the  American  street  car  — 
{he  first  one  of  which  he  designed  and  built  from  the  intro- 
duction of  such  carriages  to  the  present  time,  when  they 
are  to  be  seen  in  every  civilized  and  modern  city  of  the 
world.  And  what  is  more,  the  cars  actually  designed  and 
built  by  him  are  now  in  use  wherever  street  rajlroads  have 
been  adopted. 


STORY   OF   THE    FIRST   STREET   CAR.  129 

At  seventeen  he  was  taken  from  school  and  put  in  a 
shop,  but  before  two  years  had  passed  his  father  saw  that 
his  mechanical  tastes  and  ingenuity  were  going  to  waste 
behind  a  counter,  and  he  was  taken  away  and  apprenticed 
to  a  coachmaker  whose  shop  was  in  Broome  street,  where, 
by  the  way,  the  carriage  business  still  flourishes.  When  his 
apprenticeship  was  over,  which  was  more  than  sixty  years 
ago,  he  was  invited  by  Abram  Brower,  who  kept  a  livery 
stable  opposite  Bond  street,  on  Broadway,  to  open  a  shop 
next  the  stables  and  keep  his  vehicles  in  repair.  Mr.  Brower 
at  that  time  ran  a  stage  line  in  Broadway  from  Bleeker 
street  to  Wall  street,  the  fare  being  one  shilling.  As  a  gen- 
eral thing,  money  went  further  in  those  days  than  it  does 
now,  but  this  did  not  apply  to  stage  rides. 

The  stages  then  were  in  the  old  post-coach  style,  the 
coaches  resting  on  leather  thorough-braces.  The  seats  were 
crossways  of  the  coach,  and  the  entrances  on  the  sides.  At 
the  outset  Mr.  Stephenson  endeavored  to  improve  on  this 
old  style,  and  shortly  there  appeared  from  his  shop  the  first 
vehicle  known  as  an  "omnibus."  The  advantage  of  this 
style  of  stage  was  soon  seen,  and  they  were  built  as  fast  as 
the  old  coaches  needed  replacing.  So  important  were  these 
new  stages  considered  that  they  were  named  as  ships  are, 
and  the  first  three  constructed  were  called  Minerva,  Mentor, 
and  Forget-me-not.  The  custom  obtained  for  a  long  time, 
and  still  prevails  to  some  extent  in  southwestern  cities, 
where  the  railway  companies  run  omnibus  lines  for  the  pur- 
pose of  gathering  up  and  delivering  passengers. 

A  year  after  Stephenson's  independent  career  began,  his 
shop  and  Brower's  stable  were  destroyed  by  fire,  and,  being 
without  insurance,  his  entire  capital  was  wiped  out.  He 
soon  opened  another  shop,  and  in  it  he  built  his  first  street 
car,  in  1832.  The  New  York  &  Harlem  Railroad  was  char- 
tered in  1831,  and  the  first  street-car  line  was  opened  in  the 
Bowery  in  November,  1832.  It  ran  from  Prince  to  Four- 
teenth street. 

The  car  which.  Stephenson  designed  and  built  was 
named  for  the  president  of  the  road,  John  Mason,  who  was 
also  president  of  the  now  rich  and  famous  Chemical  Bank. 
The  opening  of  this  road  was  a  great  civic  event,  and  the 
mayor  and  common  council  of  the  city,  with  the  officers  of 
the  road,  made  the  first  journey  over  the  road,  riding  in 
Stephenson's  car. 

The  great  success  of  the  first  American  street  car  was 
heralded  all  over  the  United  States.  Orders  from  the  Har- 
lem company  for  other  cars  soon  followed,  and  in  the  same 
year  came  orders  forthe  new  style  of  cars  from  Paterson, 


130       '  STORY    OF    THE    FIRST    STREET   CAR. 

N.  J.,  Brooklyn  and  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  and  from  the  New  Jersey 
Railroad  and  Transportation  Company  (now  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  Company).  Orders  also  came  from  Talla- 
hassee, Fla.,  and  from  Matanzas,  Cuba.  These  first  cars 
were  four-wheelers,  and  all  of  them  were  used  on  railroads 
except  in  case  of  the  Harlem  company,  which  were  used  in 
the  streets.  When  Ross  Winans,  of  Baltimore,  introduced 
the  eight-wheel  car  Mr.  Stephenson's  shop  in  Elizabeth 
street  was  too  small  for  the  work  he  had  to  do,  so  in  1836  he 
built  a  new  factory  in  Harlem,  at  Fourth  avenue  and  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth  street.  There  he  did  a  much 
enlarged  business  and  built  regular  railway  cars  of  all 
styles.  His  business  now  rapidly  outgrew  his  capital,  and 
the  panic  of  1837  found  him  unprepared  to  meet  his  obliga- 
tions, when  his  debtors,  chiefly  railroad  companies,  could 
not  meet  theirs.  He  was  compelled  to  go  into  bankruptcy 
and  paid  50  cents  on  the  dollar.  His  Harlem  property 
was  sacrificed  and  his  Harlem  railroad  stock  brought  onlj 
18  per  cent,  of  its  face  value. 

As  he  was  only  twenty-six  years  old  at  the  time  of  this 
disaster  he  was  apt  discouraged.  By  1843  he  had  collected 
enough  money  to  resume  business.  He  bought  at  that  time 
the  site  on  Twenty-seventh  street,  near  Fourth  avenue,  where 
the  Stephenson  shops  are  still  located.  He  paid  what  was 
then  considered  a  high  price,  $400  a  lot.  These  lots  are  now 
worth  at  least  $25,000  each.  That  is  a  very  handsome  ad- 
vance; or,  as  Mr.  Henry  George  would  say,  a  considerable 
"  unearned  increment."  Though  excused  by  law  from  recog- 
nizing the  debts  which  had  been  compounded,  Mr.  Stephen- 
son  paid  them  all  off  as  soon  as  he  was  able.  One  of  his 
creditors,  Jordan  L.  Mott,  refused  to  accept  payment,  saying 
that  the  failure  was  an  honest  one,  and  had  been  legally 
and  morally  wiped  out  by  the  bankruptcy  proceedings. 
Some  time  after  this  refusal  Mr.  Mott  ordered  a  truck 
to  be  made. '  When  it  was  finished  Stephenson  delivered 
it  with  the  bill,  endorsed,  "Received  payment  by  the  bank- 
ruptcy debt;  John  Stephenson."  Mr.  Mott  tried  to  pay  for 
the  truck,  but  Stephenson  firmly  refused,  so  Mr.  Mott  had 
the  truck  draped  in  gay  bunting,  and  drove  it  through  the 
streets  of  New  York,  with  this  legend,  in  large,  white  letters 
on  both  sides  of  the  vehicle:  "This  is  the  way  an  honest 
bankrupt  pays  his  debts;  his  name  is  honest  John  Stephen- 
son."  All  of  the  profits  of  the  new  establishment  for  seven 
years  were  needed  to  pay  these  debts. 

After  the  Harlem  failure,  Mr.  Stephenson  for  several 
years  devoted  himself  entirely  to  building  coaches  and 
omnibuSes,  and  he  continued  building  the  latter  till  they 


STORY   OF    THE   FIRST   STREET   CAR. 


131 


were  entirely  superseded  in  use  by  street  cars.  Street  car 
roads  were  not  profitable  at  first;  but  in  1852  they  became 
more  popular,  and  many  new  lines  were  built.  In  that  year 
the  Second,  Third,  Sixth,  and  Eighth  avenue  horse-car 
companies  were  chartered  in  New  York,  and  Mr.  Stephen- 
son  received  the  order  to  build  the  cars  that  were  needed. 
From  that  time  to  the  present  his  works  have  pretty  nearly 
always  been  run  to  their  full  capacity,  and  his  cars  were 
sent  all  over  the  world. 


The  Old  Stage  Coach  that  Ran  from  Boston  to  New  Yorb 
In  Washington's  Time, 


182  A  NEW  ERA  IN  TRAVELING. 

A  New  Era  in  Traveling. 

The  first  bicycle  ever  made  is  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration,  called  the  Draisine.  It  was  not  made  to  ride 
upon,  but  it  was  made  to  push  along  on  foot  so  as  to  rest  and 
steady  the  traveler  in  his  travels.  The  bicycle,  as  the  first 
steam-engine  or  first  steamboat,  has  undergone  a  great  many 
changes. 

The  first  bicycle  made  in  this  country  was  made  of  two 
cart  wheels,  and  resembles  the  modern  bicycle  in  many  par- 
ticulars. It  grew  from  that  rude  construction  of  cart  wheels 
to  the  high-wheeled  cushion  tire;  then  the  modern  safety 
bicycle  was  invented.  Some  modern  improvements  have 
been  made,  and  no  doubt  some  will  be  made. 


The   First  Bicycle.    1816. 

The  safety  bicycle  is  one  of  the  revolutionizing  inven- 
aonsof  this  age,  and  it  is  in  its  way  destined  to  accomplish 
as  important  social  results  as  the  electric  street  railway. 
From  being  exceptional,  its  use  has  become  common,  and 
from  being  common  it  now  bids  fair  to  become  well-nigh 
universal.  Where  the  roads  justify,  workingmen  have 
begun  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  wheel  relieves  them 
of  the  necessity  of  living  near  the  shop.  So  great  is  its  speed 
that  five  or  even  ten  miles  is  not  a  prohibitive  distance 
between  home  and  work.  The  young  doctor  in  the 
town,  and  also  in  the  country,  where  the  roads  justify 


INVENTION   OF    THE    ELECTRIC    LIGHT. 


183 


visits  his  patients  on  his  wheel.  Even  the  clergyman— 
again,  where  the  roads  justify— combines  exercise  and 
business  by  wheeling  his  round  of  parish  calls.  The 
wheelmen  have  taken  the  lead  in  demanding  good 
country  roads,  and  the  construction  of  proper  roads  will 
remove  one  of  the  chief  objections  to  country  residence. 
Well-graded,  smooth  roads,  properly  drained  and  well  cared 
for,  are  a  public  interest  that  demands  universal  attention. 
They  are  a  prime  factor  of  civilization.  The  churches 
should  join  in  the  chorus  for  highways  made  broad  and 
smooth,  in  accordance  with  numerous  Scripture  injunctions. 
Good  roads  in  a  rural  county  mean  better  schools,  better 
churches,  better  markets,  higher  prices  for  land,  and  better 
times  every  way.  When  the  good  roads  are  secured,  the 
long-distance  travel  on  bicycles  will  become  something  very 
considerable,  as  it  already  is  .in  Great  Britain.  By  the  way, 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  competition  may  avail  very  materially 
to  reduce  the  price  of  bicycles.  If  the  makers  would  but 
reduce  their  prices  by  one-half,  they  would  so  greatly  mul- 
tiply the  army  of  riders  who  would  clamor  for  good  roads 
that  nothing  could  resist  the  demand;  and  the  good  roads 
would  in  turn  so  stimulate  the  demand  for  bicycles  that  the 
manufacturers  would  make  more  money  than  ever. 


Invention  of  the  Electric  Light. 

1.  American  Genius  in  the  Line  of  Electric  Lighting. 

— The  evident  priority  of  American  genius  in  the  line  ot 
electric  lighting,  it  is  safe  to  assert;  though  not  alone  in  this 
country,  but  in  Europe  as  well,  electricity  has  been  succes- 
fully  employed  in  lighting  cities,  assembly  halls,  factories, 
depots,  streets,  parks,  lighthouses,  etc.,  and  its  adaption  for 
marine  purposes,  as  exhibited  in  the  accompanying  illustra- 
tion, is  looked  upon  as  likely  to  mitigate  the  perils  of  night 
and  of  fogs,  and  increase  the  facilities  of  ocean  enterprise. 

2.  Mr.  Edison. — The  inventions  claiming  to  realize  the 
best  results  in  this  direction  are  very  numerous  and  con- 
stantly accumulating.    Acknowledging,  as  do  all  men  of 
science,  the  practicability  of  the  thing  when  applied  on  a 
large  scale,  and  especially    out  of   doors,  the    chief  im- 
portance has  seemed  to  be  in  application  to  indoor  service. 
That  this  was  accomplished  by  Prof.  Farmer,  in  his  home 
m  Salem,  Mass.,  in  1859,  is  abundantly  demonstrated.    To 
realize  this  object  conveniently,  agreeably,  abundantly  and 
inexpensively,  many  contrivances  have  been  brought  for- 


134 


INVENTION   OF    THE    ELECTRIC    LIGHT. 


Use  of  Electric  Lights  on  Warships. 

ward,  foremost  among  which  may  be  said  to  be  those  due 
to  the  wonder-working  brain  of  Mr.  Edison. 

3.  Electric  Illumination. — Already  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe  the  various  arrangements  of  electric  illumina- 
tion which  have  seemed  the  most  practicable  have  been  put 
into  operation,  with  the  highest  degrees  of  success,  and  in  the 
case  of  large  enclosures  or  areas,  there  appears  to  be  no 
doubt  as  to  its  superiority. 

4.  Electric  Power. — The  street  cars  moved  by  electric 
power  have  superior  advantages  over  every  other  system. 
Electricity  will  soon  run  most  of  the  city  elevators  and  no 
doubt  to  a  large  extent  displace  the  steam  engine   in    the 
factory.    The  time  is  liable  to  be  very  near  when  all  the  pas- 
senger traffic  will  be  transferred  to  the  electric  railway  and 
only  heavy  freight  carried  upon  our  present  railroads. 


THOMAS  A.   EDISON. 
The  Greatest  Inventor  of  the  Age. 


135 


136  TYPESETTING   MACHINES. 

Typesetting  Machines. 

Although  printing  in  some  form  was  known  to  the  an- 
cients, it  was  left  to  the  present  century  to  invent  the 
modern  machinery,  without  which  it  would  now  seem  im- 
possible to  get  along. 

Type-setting  machines  were  invented  as  early  as  1822, 
but  the  defects  of  these  early  machines  were  too  many  and 
too  great  to  permit  a  general  use  of  the  same. 

Within  recent  years  composing  machines  have  been 
constructed  that  have  overcome  the  difficulties  of  the  earlier 
machines.  These  machines,  of  latest  invention,  are  being 
introduced  everywhere  in  large  printing  establishments. 


TYPE  SETTING  MACHINE. 


DISCOVERY  OF   THE   TELEPHONE.  137 

Discovery  of  the  Telephone. 

1.  Prof.  A.  G.  Bell. — We  come  now  to  the  telephone,  the 
patent  for  which  wonderful  device  was  taken  out  at  Wash 
ington,  in  March,  1876,  by  Prof.  A.  G.  Bell,  affording  fresh 
evidence  of  the  versatility  of  American  inventive  genius. 
Though  habitually  sensitive  to  the  honor  and  claims  in  this 
direction  of  its  own  countrymen,  the  London  Westminster 
Review  frankly  admits  that,  of  all  modern  -inventions  con- 
nected with  the  transmission  of  telegraphic  signals,  the  tele- 
phone has  deservedly  excited1  the  most  widespread  interest 
und  astonishment,  an  instrument  which  undertakes  not  only 
to  convey  intelligible  signals  to  great  distances  without  the 
use  of  a  battery,  but  to  transmit  in  fac-simile  the  tones  of 
*.he  human  voice  so  that  the  latter  shall  as  certainly  be 
recognized  when  heard  over  a  distance  of  hundreds  of  jmiles 
as  if  the  owner  were  speaking  to  a  friend  at  his  side  in  the 
same  room.    The  telephone — as  the  tens  of  thousands  now 
in  use  show — does  all  this. 

2.  Marvelous  Little  Apparatus. — This  marvelous  little 
apparatus  produces,  as  already  remarked,  cheap  and  instan- 
taneous articulate  communication,  that  is,  by  direct  sound, 
neither   battery   nor  moving    machinery,  nor    skill    being 
required  but  merely  the  voice  of  ordinary  conversation  and 
attentive  listening.    It  conveys  the  quality  of  the  voice,  so 
that  the  tone  of  the  person  speaking  can  be  recognized  at 
the  other  end  of  the  line;  it  enables  the  manufacturer  to  talk 
with  his  factory  superintendent,  and  the  physician  with  his 
patient;  establishes  instantaneous  intercourse  between  the 
main  and  the  branch  office,  the  home  and  the  store,  the 
country  residence  and  the  stable  or  any  part  of  the  grounds, 
(he  mouth  of  the  mine  and  its  remotest  workings,  in  fact, 
between  any  two  points  miles  apart. 


Story  of  the  Typewriter. 

i.  Ancient. — Typewriting  history  may  be  divided  into 
two  distinct  eras — ancient  and  modern,  theoretical  and 
practical.  January  17,  1714,  Mr.  Henry  Mill,  of  England, 
was  granted  a  patent  for  a  machine,  but  it  was  rude  and 
clumsy  and  led  to  no  practical  result.  To  the  next  inven- 
tion in  the  typewriter  line,  America  is  entitled.  In  1829 
William  A.  Burt,  the  inventor  of  the  solar  compass,  was 
granted  a  patent  for  a  writing  machine  called  the  "Typog- 
rapher." The  next  patent  was  granted  a  Frenchman  of 
Marseilles.  This  was  called  a  Kryptographic  machine. 


13S 


STORY  OF  THE  TYPEWRITER. 

m 


French  Typewriter  of  1833. 


2.  Modem.  —The  Remington  Typewriter,  invented  in 
1867,  was  the  first  of  modern  machines.  The  first  ten  years 
were  spent  in  seeking  to  set  aside  the  prejudice  against  the 
new  invention.  Since  then  progress  has  been  so  rapid  that 
today  the  typewriter  is  indispensable  in  all  lines  of  business 
and  all  occupations  where  considerable  writing  is  required. 


New  Remington  Typewriter. 


THE  X   RAYS.  139 

The  X  Rays. 

1.  Discovery. — The  X  Rays  are  so  called  for  want  of  a 
better  name — X  standing  for  the  unknown   quantity    in 
mathematical  science.     It  is  seldom   that  a  discovery  in 
science  excites  so  wide  an  interest  of  not  only  scientists,  but 
also  those  engaged  with  other  pursuits.    Since  their  dis- 
covery by   Prof.  Roentgen  of    Wurtzburg,    Germany,    in 
December,  1895,  interest  as  to  the  possibilities  of  the  prac- 
tical   application    to    surgery    has  been  unabated.     Prof. 
Roentgen  followed  in  the  path  of  Crookes,  Hertz  and  Len- 
ard,  who  by  their  arduous  labors  have  brought  to  the  notice 
of  the  world  the  subject  of  cathode  rays,  one  of  the  most 
important  in  electricity. 

2.  Definition. — Briefly  defined,  they  are  rays  produced 
by  electricity  in  a  peculiar  manner  in  a  vacuum.     If  two 
electrified  wires  are  placed  in  an  air-tight  glass  tube,  and 
this  connected  with  an  efficient  air-pump,  it  will  be  found 
that,  as  the  air  is  gradually  withdrawn  from  the  tube,  the 
character  of  the  spark  produced  by  contact  of  the  wires  un- 
dergoes a  striking  change.     "The  narrow,  tortuous,  thread- 
like spark  loses  its  definite  outline,  becomes  enlarged,  hazy 
in  structure,  and  takes  on  a  rosy  purple  tint."     It  continues 
to  become  more  and  more  nebulous  in  appearance  as  ex« 
haustion  proceeds,  and  when  the  pressure  within  has  been 
reduced  to  about  one-hundreth  of  that  of  the  ordinary  at- 
mosphere, the  luminous  haze  fills  the  entire  tube.    But 
before  this  result  has  been  reached  the  discharge  at  the 
negative  pole,  or  cathode,  has  begun  to  show  its  individu- 
ality, its  light  flowing  backward,  so  as  to  form  an  envelope 
around  the  wire,  and  as  exhaustion  proceeds,  it  becomes 
quite  independent  of  the  position  of  the  positive  wire,  or 
anode,  and  extends  outward  in  every  direction,  showing  a 
characteristic  bluish  light.    These  vacuum  tubes  had  been 
made  for  some  time  by  German  physicists  and  experimen- 
ters in  electricity,  and  the  striking  individuality  of   the 
cathode  ray  was  noted  long  before  its  remarkable  possibili- 
*ies  were  dreamed  of. 

3.  Crookes'  Discovery. — Mr.  Crookes,  a  British  scien- 
tist, experimented  with  the  mercury  air-pump  until  he  re- 
duced the  pressure  within  the  glass  to  no  more  than  a  few 
millionths  of  an  atmosphere.    This  gave  especial  opportu- 
nity for  the  study  of  the  cathode  ray,  and  this  study  was 
pushed  forward  by  scientists,  particularly  in  Germany. 

4.  Lenard's  Work. — The  work  of  Phillip  Lenard,  at  the 
University  of  Bonn,  in  1894  and  1895,  contained  the  origin 
of  later  discoveries  concerning  the  remarkable  photographic 


140 


THE   X   RAYS. 


power  of  the  cathode  ray.  He  employed  the  device  of  mak- 
ing a  window  in  the  vacuum  tube,  closed  with  a  thin  sheet 
of  aluminum.  The  metal  is  pervious  to  the  rays,  and  thus 
he  was  able  to  obtain  them  for  the  first  time  outside  of  the 
tube,  and  to  experiment  with  them.  He  found  that  they 
penetrated  many  substances,  even  when  opaque  to  light, 
and  he  obtained  photographic  pictures  with  them,  taken 
through  sheets  of  aluminum.  Lenard  published  the  first 
account  of  his  experiments  in  January,  1894,  and  a  descrip- 
tion of  later  discoveries  in  October,  1895. 

5.  Roentgen's  Further  Discovery. — Professor  Roent- 
gen followed  in  the  line  of  experiments  indicated  by  Le- 
nard, and,  as  his  account  was  the  first  to  attract  public 


SKELETON   OF   FROG. 

attention,  the  credit  of  original  discovery  was  given  him 
His  account  of  his  experiments,  which  was  published  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Physical  and  Medical  Society  of  Wartburg, 


THE   X   RAYS.  141 

Germany,  in  the  latter  part  of  1895,  was  admirably  concise 
and  lucid.  He  had  proved  the  remarkable  power  of  the 
fays  to  produce  effects  upon  the  photographic  plate,  after 
having  passed  through  substances  opaque  to  light,  thus  re 
vealing  the  hidden  structure  of  the  substance.  He  had 
found  it  possible  to  obtain  pictures  of  various  parts,  of  the 
human  body,  which  showed  the  bones  distinctly  in  their 
proper  form  amid  the  fainter  image  of  the  fleshy  parts. 
These,  with  other  results,  opened  a  field  so  rich  in  possible 
results  that  they  aroused  the  most  intense  interest  through- 
out the  civilized  world. 

6.  Practical  Use  in  Pathology  and  Surgery. — The  prac- 
tical use  of  the  new  discovery  to  benefit  suffering  humanity 
cannot  yet  be  accurately  stated,  but  its  importance  in  med- 
ical practice  can  hardly  be  overestimated.    While  many  of 
the  supposed  possibilities  may  be  visionary,  it  is  safe  to  say, 
"First:  That  deformities,  injuries,  and  diseases  of  bone  can 
be  readily  and  accurately  diagnosticated  by  the  X  Rays; 
but  that  the  method  at  present  is  limited  in  its  use  to  the, 
thinner  parts  of  the  body,  especially  to  the  hands,  forearmst 
and  feet. 

"Second  :  That  foreign  bodies  which  are  opaque  to  ine 
rays,  such  as  needles,  bullets,  and  glass  can  be  accurately 
located  and  their  removal  facilitated  by  this  means. 

"Third:  That  at  present  the  internal  organs  are  not 
accessible  to  examination  by  the  X-rays  because  of  the 
thickness  of  the  body,  and  because  some  of  the  parts  are 
enclosed  in  more  or  less  complex  bony  cases." 

It  is  hoped  that  with  a  better  knowledge  of  the  nature 
of  the  rays,  and  greater  ability  to  make  them  more  effec- 
tive, many  obstacles  will  be  overcome  which  will  make 
them  much  more  widely  useful  than  at  present. 

7.  Humorous  Inquiries. — The  humorists  are  still  manu- 
facturing gayety  out  of  the  X  rays,  and  most  of  the  fun 
evolved  is  as  light  and  inappreciable  as  the  mysterious  rays 
themselves.    Here,  however,  are  a  couple  of  good  ones. 

Anxious  Mother  (to  the  X-ray  doctor): — "Oh,  doctor,  we 
missed  one  of  our  silver  spoons,  and,  as  baby  has  been  very 
cross  all  day,  we  want  you  to  look  through  him  and  see  if  he 
has  it  in  him  !" —  < 

Grandma: — "You'll  hardly  think  it  possible,  but  I  can 
remember  the  time  when  people  couldn't  see  through  a 
stone  wall  at  all!"  Little  Granddaughter:  —  "Couldn't 
they,  really  ?  What  strange  stories  you  do  tell,  grandma  !" 

Some  time  ago,  Mr.  Edison  received  at  his'  laboratory 
the  hollow  eye-pieces  of  a  pair  of  opera-glasses,  with  the 
request  that  he  "  fit  them  with  the  X-rays"  and  return  them 
to  the  Vermont  sender.  Evidently  the  Green  Mountain 
individual  had  a  desire  to  see  things. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OUR   GOVERNMENT. 

State  Papers— The  Declaration  of 
Independence. 


As  Adopted  by  Congress.    When,  in  the  course  of  human  events, 
aecomes  necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands 
which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to  assume,  among  the 


it  becomes  necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands 
which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to  assume,  among  the 
powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws 


of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitles  them,  a  decent  respect  to  the 
opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes 
which  impel  them  to  the  separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident— that  all  men  are  created 
equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable 
rights;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness. That,  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among 
men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed; 
that,  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of  these 
ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter'or  abolish  it,  and  to  insti- 
tute a  new  government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such  principles,  and 
organizing  its  powers  in  such  form  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely 
to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate 
that  governments  long  established  should  not  be  changed  for  light 
and  transient  causes ;  and,  accordingly,  all  experience  hath  shown  that 
men  are  more  disposed  to  suffer,  while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to 
right  themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accus- 
tomed. But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing 
invariably  the  same  object,  evinces  a  desire  to  reduce  them  under 
absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their  duty,  to  throw  off  such 
government,  and  to  provide  new  guards  for  their  future  security. 
Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance  of  these  colonists ;  and  such  is 
now  the  necessity  which  constrains  them  to  alter  their  former  systems 
of  government.  The  history  of  the  present  King  of  Great  Britain  is  a 
history  of  repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having  in  direct 
object  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  states.  To 
prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world. 

1.  He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  whole- 
some and  necessary  for  the  public  good. 

2.  He  has  forbidden  his  Governors  to  pass  laws  of  im- 
mediate and  pressing  importance,  unless  suspended  in  their 
operations  till  his  assent  should  be  obtained;  and,  when  so 
suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  them. 

3.  He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  large  districts  of  people,  unless  these  people  would 
relinquish  the  right  of  representation  in  the  Legislature— a 
right  inestimable  to  them,  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

142 


144  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE^ 

4.  He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places 
unusual,  uncomfortable   and    distant   from   the   repository 
of  their  public  records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing 
them  into  compliance  with  his  measures. 

5.  He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly 
for  opposing  with  manly  firmness  his   invasions  on   the 
rights  of  the  people. 

6.  He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such  dissolu- 
tions, to  cause  others  to  be  elected;  whereby  the  legislative 
powers,   incapable  of  annihilation,  have  returned   to   the 
people  at  large  for  their  exercise,  the  state  remaining  in  the 
meantime  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  invasion  from  with- 
out and  convulsions  within. 

7.  He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of  these 
states,  for  that  purpose  obstructing  the  laws  for  the  naturali- 
zation of  foreigners;  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage 
their  migration  hither,  and  raising  the  condition  of  new 
appropriations  of  lands. 

8.  He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice,  by 
refusing  his  assent  to  laws  for  establishing  judiciary  powers. 

9.  He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone  for 
the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment 
of  their  salaries. 

10.  He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and  sent 
hither  swarms  of  officers,  to  harrass  our  people  and  eat  out 
their  substance. 

11.  He  has  kept  among  us,  in  times  of  peace,  standing 
armies,  without  the  consent  of  our  legislatures. 

12.  He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent 
of,  and  superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

13.  He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a 
jurisdiction  foreign  to  our  constitutions  and  unacknowledged 
by  our  laws;  giving  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended 
legislation. 

14.  For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among 
us. 

15.  For  protecting  them,  by  mock  trial,  from  punish- 
ment for  any  murders  which  they  should  commit  on  the  in- 
habitants of  these  states. 

16.  For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world. 

17.  For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent. 

18.  For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefits  of 
trial  by  jury. 

19.  For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried  for  pre- 
tended offenses. 

20.  For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws  in  a 
neighboring  province,  establishing  therein  an  arbitrary  gov- 


THE  DECLARATION  OF   INDEPENDENCE.  145 

ernment  and  enlarging  its  boundaries,  so  as  to  render  it  at 
once  an  example  and  fit  instrument  for  introducing  the 
same  absolute  rule  into  these  colonies. 

21.  For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  most 
valuable  laws  and  altering  fundamentally  the  forms  of  our 
governments. 

22.  For  suspending  our  own  legislatures  and  declaring 
themselves  invested  with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all 
cases  whatsoever. 

23.  He  has  abdicated  government  here  by  declaring  us 
out  of  his  protecion  and  waging  war  against  us. 

24.  He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts, 
burned  our  towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people. 

25.  He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large  armies  of  for- 
eign mercenaries  to  complete  the  works  of  death,  desola- 
tion, and  tyranny  already  begun  with  circumstances  of  cru- 
elty and  perfidy  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous 
ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the  head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

26.  He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens,  taken  cap- 
tive on  the  high  seas,  to  bear  arms  against  their  country,  to 
become  the  executioners  of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or  to 
fall  themselves  by  their  hands. 

27.  He  has  excited   domestic   insurrection  among  us, 
and  has  endeavored  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  fron- 
tiers the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of 
warfare  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes, 
and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions  we  have  petitioned 
for  redress  in  the  most  humble  terms;  our  repeated  petitions 
have  been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A  prince 
whose  character  is  thus  marked  by  every  act  which  may 
define  a  tyrant  is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  our  attentions  to  our  British 
brethren.  We  have  warned  them,  from  time  to  time,  of 
attempts  by  their  Legislature  to  extend  an  unwarrantable 
jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  reminded  them  of  the  cir- 
cumstances of  our  immigration  and  settlement  here.  We 
have  appealed  to  their  native  justice  and  magnanimity  and 
we  have  conjured  them  by  the  ties  of  our  common  kindred, 
to  disavow  these  usurpations,  which  would  inevitably  inter- 
rupt our  connections  and  correspondence.  They,  too,  have 
been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity.  We 
must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  necessity  which  denounces 
pur  separation,  and  hold  them  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  man- 
kind, enemies  in  war,  in  peace,  friends. 

We  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  United  States 
pf  America,  in  general  Congress  assembled,  appealing  to 


146 


THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our 
intentions,  do,  in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority,  of  the  good 
people  of  these  colonies,  solemnly  publish  and  declare  that 
these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right,  ought  to  be  free 
and  independent  States;  that  they  are  absolved  from  all 
allegiance  to  the  British  crown  and  that  all  political  connec- 
tion between  them  and  the  State  of  Great  Britain  is,  and 
ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved;  and  that,  as  free  and  independ- 
ent States,  they  have  full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace, 
contract  alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  do  all  other  acts 
and  things  which  independent  States  may  of  right  do.  And 
tor  the  support  of  this  Declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on 
the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we  mutually  pledge 
to  each  other  our  lives,  our  fortunes  and  our  sacred  honor 


AMERIGO  VESPUCCI, 

The  man  who  visited  America  in  1499  and  after  whom 
the  continent  was  named* 


THE    CONSTITUTION.  147 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON, 

One  of  the  leading  spirits  in  framing  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States. 

Constitution  of  the  United  States  of 
America. 

PREAMBLE. 

We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a 
more  perfect  Union,  establish  Justice,  insure  domestic 
Tranquility,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the 
general  Welfare,  and  secure  the  Blessings  of  Liberty  to 
ourselves  and  our  Posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this 
Constitution  for  the  United  States  of  America: 

ARTICLE  I.. 

THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

Section  1.  Legislative  Powers.-  All  Legislative  Powers  herein 
granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  whi^h  gha.ll 
consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 


148  THE   CONSTITUTION. 

.  Section  2.  House  of  Representatives.— The  Houseof  Represen- 
tatives shall  be  composed  of  members  chosen  every  second  year  by  the 
People  of  the  several  States,  and  the  Electors  in  each  State  shall  have 
the  qualifications  requisite  for  Electors  of  the  most  numerous  Branch 
of  the  State  Legislature. 

Qualifications  of  Representatives.-No  Person  shall  be  a  Rep- 
resentative  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-five  years, 
and  been  seven  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not, 
when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be 
chosen. 

Appointment  of  Representatives.— Representatives  and  direct 
taxes  shall  be  ^  apportioned  among  the  several  States,  which  may  be 
included  within  this  Union,  according  to  their  respective  numbers 
which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to  whole  number  of  free  pei> 
sons  including  those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years  and,  exclud- 
ing Indians  not  taxed,  three  fifths  of  all  other  persons. 

Number  of  Representatives.— The  a9tual  enumeration  shall  be 
made  within  three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  and  within  every  subsequent  term  of  ten  years,  in  such 
manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct.  The  number  of  representatives 
shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  thousand,  but  each  State  shall 
have  at  least  one  Representative,  and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be 
made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  choose  three, 
Massachusetts  eight,  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  one, 
Connecticut  five,  New  York  six,  New  Jersey  four,  Pennsylvania  eight, 
Delaware  one,  Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North  Carolina  five,  South 
Carolina  five  and  Georgia  three. 

Vacancies.— When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  from 
any  State,  the  executive  authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to 
fill  such  vacancies. 

Officers,  How  Appointed.— The  House  of  Representatives  shall 
choose  their  Speaker  and  their  officers;  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of 
impeachment. 

Section  3.  Senate.— The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
composed  of  two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature 
thereof,  for  six  years ;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote. 

Classification  of  Senators.— Immediately  after  they  shall  be  as- 
eembled  in  consequence  of  the  first  election,  they  shall  be  divided  as 
equally  as  may  be  into  three  c'asses.  The  seats  of  the  Senators  of  the 
first  class  shall  be  vacated  at  the  expiration  of  the  necond  year,  of  the 
second  class  at  the  expiration  of  the  fourth  year,  and  of  the  third  class 
at  the  expiration  of  the  sixth  year,  so  that  one-third  may  be  choaen  ev- 
ery second  year;  and  if  vacancies  happen  by  resignation  or  otherwise, 
during  the  recess  of  the  Legislature  of  any  State,  the  Executive  thereof 
may  make  temporary  appointments  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  Leg- 
islature, which  shall  then  fill  such  vacancies. 

Qualifications  of  Senators.— No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who 
shall  have  not  attained  to  the  age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a 
cifizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  in- 
habitant of  that  state  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

President  of  the  Senate.— The  Vice-Prpsident  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  President  of  the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  vote  unless 
they  be  equally  divided. 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers,  and  also  a  President 
pro  tempore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or  when  he  shall 
exercise  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

Senate,  a  Court  for  Trial  of  Impeachments.- The  Senate  shall 
have  the  sole  Power  to  t^y  all  impeachments.  When  sitting  for  that 
pnrpose  they  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation.  When  the  President  of 
the  United  State  is  tried  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside,  and  no  per- 
son shall  be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirde  of  the 
members  present. 


THE  CONSTITUTION.  149 

Judgment  in  Case  Of  Conviction.— Judgment  in  cases  of  im- 
peachment shall  not  extend  further  than  to  removal  from  office  and 
disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust  or  profit 
tinder  the  United  States. _  But  the  party  convicted  shall  nevertheless 
be  liable  and  subject  to  indictment,  trial,  judgment  and  punishment 
according  to  law. 

Section  4.  Elections  of  Senators  and  Representatives.— The 
times,  places  and  manner  of  tuplding  elections  for  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  Legislature  thereof  ; 
but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  law  make  or  alter  such  regula- 
tions, except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing  Senators. 

Meeting  of  Congress.— The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once 
in  every  year,  and  such  meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  Decem- 
ber, unless  they  shall  by  law  appoint  a  different  day. 

Section  5.  Organization  of  Congress.— Each  House  shall  be  the 
judge  of  the  elections,  returns  and  qualifications  of  its  own  members, 
and  a  majority  of  each  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business ;  but  a 
smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to 
compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members  in  such  manner,  and  under 
such  penalties,  as  each  House  may  provide. 

Rule  Of  Proceeding.— Each  House  may  determine  the  rules  of  its 
proceedings,  punish  its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and  with  tho 
concurrence  of  two  thirds,  excel  a  member. 

Journal  of  Congress.— Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  pro- 
ceedings,  and  from  time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  parto 
as  may  in  their  judgment  require  secrecy ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the 
members  of  either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desire  of  one-fifth 
of  those  present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

Adjournment  of  Congress.— Neither  House,  during  the  session 
of  Congress,  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more 
than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two 
Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

Section  6.  Pay  and  Privileges  of  Members.— The  senators  and 
representatives  shall  receive  a  compensation  for  their  services,  to  be 
ascertained  by  law,  and  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 
They  shall,  in  all  cases  except  treason,  felony,  and  breach  of  the  peace, 
be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  the  session  of  their 
respective  Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same ;  and 
for  any  speech  or  debate  in  either  House,  they  shall  not  be  questioned 
in  any  other  place. 

Plurality  of  Offices  Prohibited.— No  Senator  or  Representative 
fchall,  during  the  time  for  which  he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any 
civil  office  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have 
been  created,  or  the  emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  increased, 
during  such  time ;  and  no  person  holding  any  office  under  the  United 
States  shall  be  a  member  of  either  House  during  his  continuance  in 
office. 

Section  7.  Revenue  Bills.— All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall 
originate  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  but  the  Senate  may  propose 
or  concur  with  amendments  as  on  other  bills. 

How  Bills  Become  Law.— Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate  shall,  before  it  becomes  a 
law,  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States.  If  he  approve 
he  shall  sign  it,  but  if  not  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  objections,  to  that 
House  in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections 
at  large  on  their  journals  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after  such 
reconsideration  two-thirds  of  that  House  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it 
shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections,  to  the  other  House,  by  which 
it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  that 
House  it  shall  become  a  law.  But  in  all  such  cases  the  votes  of  both 
Houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  and  the  names  of  the  per- 
feons  voting  for  and  against  the  bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of 

e&ch  House  respectively.   If  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  tea  Presi- 


150 


THE  CONSTITUTION. 


JOHN  JAY, 

First  Chief  Justice. 


dent  within  ten  days  (Sundays  exeepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  pre. 
sented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  law,  in  like  manner  aa  if  he  had 
signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their  adjournment  prevent  its  return, 
in  which  ca^e  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

Approval  and  Veto  Powers  of  the  President.— Every  order, 
resolution  or  vote  to  which  concurrence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  may  bo  necessary  _(except  on  a  question  of  adjourn- 
ment) shall  bo  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  be- 
fore the  same  shall  take  effect ;  shall  be  approved  by  him,  or  being  dis- 
approved by  him,  shall  be  repassed  by  two-thirds  of  the  .Senate  and  the 
House  of  Representatives,  according  to  the  rules  and  limitations  pre- 
scribed in  the  case  of  a  bill. 

Section  8.  lowers  Vested  in  Congress.— The  Consrress  shall 
have  power * 


THE  CONSTITUTION.  J51 

To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts  and  excises,  to  pay  the 
debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  of  the 
United  States ;  but  all  duties,  imposts  and  excises  shall  be  uniform 
throughout  the  United  States. 

To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States ; 

To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several 
states  and  with  the  Indian  tribes ; 

To  establish  an  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform  laws 
on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States ; 

To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin,  and 
fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures ; 

To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securities  and 
current  coin  of  the  United  States ; 

To  establish  post  offices  and  post  roads ; 

To  promote  the  progress  of  science,  and  useful  arts,  by  securing  for 
iimited  times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their  re- 
spective writings  and  discoveries ; 

To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  pupreme  court; 

To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high 
seas,  and  offences  against  the  Law  of  Nations ; 

To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  make 
.rules  concerning  captures  on  land  and  water; 

To  raise  and  support  arrr  ies,  but  no  appropriation  of  money  to  that 
use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years ; 

Powers  Vested  in  Congress.— To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy : 

To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land  and 
naval  forces ; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of 
the  Union,  suppress  insurrection  and  repel  invapions; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming  and  disciplining  the  militia,  and 
for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States,  respectively,  the  appointment 
of  the  officers  and  the  authority  of  training  the  militia  according  to 
the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress ; 

To  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in  all  cases  whatsoever  over 
such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by  cession  of 
particular  States  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the  seat  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise  like  authority 
over  all  places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines, 
arsenals,  dock  yards  and  other  needful  buildings ;  and 

To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying 
into  execution  the  foregoing  powers  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this 
constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States  or  in  any  depart- 
ment or  officer  thereof. 

Section  9.  Immigrants,  How  Admitted.'— IThe  migration  or 
importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall 
think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to 
the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  but  a  tax  or  duty  mey  be 
imposed  on  such  importation,  notexceedingtendollarsforeachpereon. 

Habeas  Corpus.  -The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  shall 
not  be  suspended,  unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the 
public  safety  may  require  it. 

Attainder.— No  Bill  of  Attainder  or  ex-post  facto  law  shall  be 
passed. 

Direct  Taxes.— No  Capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid, 
unless  in  proportion  to  the  census  or  enumeration  herein  before 
directed  to  be  taken. 

Regulations  Regarding  Duties,— No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid 
f»u  articles  exported  from  any  State. 

No  preference  shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce  or 
revenue  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another;  nor  shall 
vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay 
duties  in  another. 


152  THE   CONSTITUTION. 

Money,  How  Drawn.— No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treaa. 
ury,  but  in  consequence  of  appropriations  made  by  law ;  and  a  regular 
statement  and  account  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public 
money  shall  be  published  from  time  to  time. 

Titles  of  Nobility  Prohibited.— No  title  of  nobility  shall  be 
granted  by  the  United  States;  and  no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit 
or  trust  under  them,  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  accept 
of  any  present,  emolument,  office  or  title  of  any  kind  whatever  from 
any  king,  prince  or  foreign  state. 

Section  10.  Ppwers  of  States  Denned.— No  State  shall  enter 
into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or  confederation;  grant  letters  of  marque 
and  reprisal;  coin  money;  emit  bills  of  credit;  make  any  thing  but 
gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts;  pass  any  bill  of 
attainder,  ex  post  facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligations  of  con- 
tracts, or  grant  any  title  of  nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any  imposts 
or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  executing  its  inspection  laws;  and  the  net  produce  of  all 
duties  and  imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  imports  or  exports,  shall  be 
for  the  use  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States;  and  all  such  laws 
shall  be  subject  to  the  revision  and  control  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  duty  of 
tonnage,  keep  troops,  or  ships  of  war  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any 
agreement  or  compact  with  anothor  State,  or  with  foreign  power,  or  en- 
gage in  war,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  danger  as 
will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE  II. 

THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

Section  1.  Executive  Power,  in  Whom  Invested.— The  ex- 
ecutive power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  He  shall  hold  his  office  duringthe  term  of  four  years,  and  to- 
gether with  the  Vice-President,  chosen  for  the  same  term,  be  elected  as 
follows : 

Electors. — Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legis- 
lature thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  electors,  equal  to  the  whole 
number  of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be  en- 
titled in  the  Congress;  but  no  Senator  or  Representative  or  person 
holding  an  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  ap- 
pointed an  elector. 

Proceedings  of  Electors.  Proceedings  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives.—The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States  and  vote 
by  ballot  for  two  persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an  inhabi- 
tant of  the  same  State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall  make  a  list  of 
all  the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each;  which 
list  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the 
Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate  shall  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates  and  the  votes 
shall  then  be  counted.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes 
shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  num- 
ber of  electors  appointed ;  and  if  there  be  more  than  one  who  have  such 
a  majority,  and  have  an  equal  number  of  votes,  then  the  House  of 
Representatives  shall  immediately  choose  by  ballot  one  of  them  for  Presi- 
dent; and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the  five  highest  on  the 
list  the  said  House  shall  in  like  manner  choose  the  President.  But  in 
choosing  the  President  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  representa- 
tion from  each  State  having  one  vote ;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall 
consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a 
majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a_  choice.  In  every  case, 
after  the  choice  of  the  President,  the  person  having  the  greatest  number 
0?  votes  of  the  electors  shall  be  the  Vice-President.  But  if  tjiere  should 


THE  CONSTITUTION.  153 

remain  two  or  more  who  have  equal  votes,  the  Senate  shall  choose  from 
them  by  ballot  the  Vice-President. 

Time  of  Choosing  Electors.— The  Congress  may  determine  the 
time  of  choosing  the  electors  and  the  day  on  which  they  shall  give  their 
votes,  which  day  shall  be  the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

Qualifications  of  the  President.— No  person  except  a  natural 
born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adop- 
tion of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President ; 
neither  shall  any  person  be  eligible  to  that  office  who  shall  not  have 
attained  to  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  and  been  fourteen  years  a  resi- 
dent within  the  United  States. 

Resort  in  Case  of  Disability.— In  case  of  removal  of  the  Presi- 
dent from  office,  or  of  his  death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge 
the  powers  and  duties  of  the  said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the 
Vice-President,  and  the  Congress  may  by  law  pro  vide  for  the  case  of 
removal,  death,  resignation,  or  inability  both  of  the  President  and  Vice- 
President,  declaring  what  officer  shall  then  act  as  President,  and  such 
officer  shall  act  accordingly  until  the  disability  be  removed  or  a  Presi- 
dent shall  be  elected. 

Salary  of  the  President.— The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  re- 
ceive for  his  services,  a  compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  increased 
nor  diminished  during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected, 
and  he  shall  not  receive  within  that  period  any  other  emolument  from 
the  United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

Oath. — Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he  shall 
take  the  following  oath  or  affirmation : 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the 
office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  ability 
preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Section  2.  Duties  of  the  President.— The  President  shall  be 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  militia  of  the  several  states,  when  called  into  the  actual  service 
of  the  United  States;  he  may  require  the  opinion,  in  writing,  of  the 
principal  officer,  in  each  of  the  executive  departments,  upon  any  sub- 
ject relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  and  he  shall  have 
power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences  against  the  United 
States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

May  Make  Treaties,  Appoint  Ambassadors,  Judges,  etc.— 
He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present  concur; 
and  he  shall  nominate  and,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and  con- 
suls, judges  of  the  supreme  court,  and  all  other  officers  of  the  United 
States  whose  appointments  are  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and 
which  shall  be  established  by  law,  but  the  Congress  may  by  law  vest  the 
appointments  of  such  inferior  officers  as  they  think  proper,  in  the 
President  alone,  in  the  courts  of  law.  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 

May  Fill  Vacancies.— The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up 
all  vacancies  that  may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate  by  grant- 
ing commissions  which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their  next  session. 

Section  3.  May  Convene  Congress.— He  shall  from  time  to 
time  give  to  the  Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and 
recommend  to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  he  ehall  judge 
necessary  and  expedient;  he  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene 
both  Houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  between 
them  with  respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  he  jnay  adjourn  them  to 
such  time  as  he  shall  think  proper;  he  shall  receive  Ambassadors  and 
other  public  ministers;  he  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed,  and  shall  commission  all  the  officers  of  the  United  States. 

Section  4.  How  Officers  May  Be  Removed.— The  President, 
Vice-President  and  all.civil  officers  of  tne  United  States  shall  be  re- 
moved from  office  on  impeachment  for,  and  conviction  of,  treason, 
bribery,  orpther  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 


154 


THE  CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE  III. 
THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT. 


Section  1.  Judicial  Power,  How  Invested.— The  judicial  power 
of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested  in  one  supreme  court  and  in  such 
inferior  courts  as  the  Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  estab- 
lish. The  judges,  both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior  courts,  shall  hold 
their  offices  during  good  behavior,  and  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for 
ther  services,  a  compensation,  which  shad  not  be  diminished  during 
their  continuance  in  office. 


CHIEF  JUSTICE  FULLER. 


Section  2.  To.What  Cases  It  Extends.— The  judicial  power  shall 
extend  to  all  cases,  in  Jaw  and  equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution, 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made, 
under  their  authority ;  to  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public 
ministers,  and  consuls;  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdic- 
tion ;  to  controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  party ;  to 
lontroversios  between  two  or  more  States ;  between  a  State  and  citizens 
ef  another  State ;  between  citizens  of  dittermt  States ;  between  citizees 


THE  CONSTITUTION.  155 

of  the  same  State  claiming  lands  under  grants  of  different  States,  and 
between  a  State  or  the  citizens  thereof  and  foreign  States,  citizens,  or 
subjects. 

Jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme  Court.— In  all  cases  affecting  Am- 
bassadors, other  public  ministers  and  consuls,  and  those  in  which  a 
State  shall  be  party,  the  supreme  court  shall  have  original  jurisdic- 
tion. In  all  the  other  cases  before  mentioned,  the  supreme  court  shall 
have  appellate  jurisdiction,  both  as  to  law  and  fact,  with  such  excep- 
tions, and  under  such  regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

Rules  Respecting  Trials.— The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases 
of  impeachment,  shall  be  by  jury ;  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the 
State  where  the  said  crime  shall  have  been  committed ;  but  when  not 
committed  within  any  State  the  trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or  places  as 
the  Congress  may  bylaw  have  directed. 

Section  3.  Treason  Defined.— Treason  against  the  United  States 
shall  consist  only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their 
enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  o( 
treason  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act, 
or  on  confession  in  open  court. 

How  Punished.— The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the 
punishment  of  treason,  but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall  work  cor- 
ruption of  blood,  or  forfeiture  except  during  the  life  ok  the  person  at- 
tainted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Section  1.  Rights  of  States  and  Records.— Full  faith  and 
credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State  to  the  public  acts,  records  and  judi- 
cial proceedings  of  every  other  State.  And  the  Congress  may  by  general 
laws  prescribe  the  manner  in  which  -such  acts,  records  and  proceedings 
shall  be  proved  and  the  effect  thereof. 

Section?.  Privileges  of  Citizens.— The  citizens  of  each  State 
shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the 
several  States. 

Executive  Requisitions.— A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  trea- 
son, felony  or  other  crime  who  shall  flee  from  justice  and  may  be  found 
in  another  State  shall,  on  demand  of  the  executive  authority  of  the  State 
from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up  to  be  removed  to  the  State  having 
jurisdiction  of  the  crime. 

Law  Regulating  Service  or  Labor.— No  person  held  to  ser- 
vice or  labor  in  one  State  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another, 
shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged 
from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the 
party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due. 

Section  3.  New  States,  How  Formed  and  Admitted.— New 
States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into  this  Union ;  but  no  new 
States  snail  be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other 
State;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  States, 
or  parts  of  States,  without  the  consent  of  the  legislatures  of  the  States 
concerned  as  well  as  of  the  Congress. 

Power  of  Congress.— The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  dispose  of 

' '  "  -  '  irritory  or 
this  Con- 
the  United 
States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

Section  4.  Republican  Government  Guaranteed.  —  The 
United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a  Republican 
form  of  government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  invasion, 
and  on  application  of  the  legislature  or  of  the  executive  (when  the 
legislature  cannot  be  convened)  against  domestic  violence. 


156  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE  V. 

Power  Of  Amendment.— The  Congress,  vchenever  two-thirds  of 
both  Houses  shall  deem  it  necessary,  shall  me  r/otse  amendments  to  this 
Coustitution.  or,  on  the  application  of  the  legislatures  of  two-thirds  of 
the  several  States,  shall  call  a  convention  for  proposing  amendments, 
which,  in  either  case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part 
of  this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  three-fourths 
of  the  several  States,  or  by  conventions  in  thrre-fourths  thereof, 
as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of  ratification  may  be  proposed  by 
the  Congress  provided  that  no  amendment  which  msy  bo  made  prior  tb 
the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight  shall  in  any  mannet 
affect  the  first  and  fourth  clauses  in  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article! 
and  that  no  State,  without  its  consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal 
suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Validity  of  Debts  Recognized.— All  debts  contracted  and 
engagements  entered  into  before  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution 
shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United  States  under  this  Constitution,  as 
under  the  Confederation. 

Supreme  Law  of  the  Land  Defined.— This  Constitution,  and 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof, 
and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority  of 
the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  Land;  and  the 
Judges  in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby ,  anything  in  the  Consti- 
tution of  Laws  of  any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Oath;  of  Whom  Required  and  for  What.— The  Senators  and 
Representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the.  members  of  the  several 
State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and  judicial  officers,  both  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  several  States,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or 
affirmation,  to  support  this  Constitution  ;  but  no  religious  test  shall 
ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any  office  or  public  trust  under  the 
United  States. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

Ratification.— The  ratification  of  the  convention  of  nine  States 
shall  be  sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between 
the  States  so  ratifying  the  same. 

AMENDMENTS   TO    THE    CONSTITUTION. 

Article  I.  Religion,  Free  Speech,  Redress  for  Grievances.— 
Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or 
prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof ;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech 
or  of  the  press ;  or  thu  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to 
petition  the  government  for  a  redrees  of  grievances. 

Article  II.  Bearing  Arms.— A  well-regulated  militia  being  neces- 
sary to  the  security  of  a  free  State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and 
bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed. 

Article  III.  Soldiery.— No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be 
quartered  in  any  house  without  the  consent  cf  the  owner,  nor  in  time  of 
war,  but  in  a  manner  to  be  Described  by  law. 

Article  IV.  Right  of  Search.— The  right  of  the  people  to  be 
secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and  effects  against  unreasonable 
searches  and  seizures  shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  warrants  shall  issue 
but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  par- 
ticularly describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things 
to  be  seized. 

Article  V.  Capital  and  Criminal  Arrest.TNo  person  shall  be 
held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  other  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  pre- 


THE  CONSTITUTION.  157 

eentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the 
land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia,  when  in  actual  service  in  time 
of  war  or  public  danger ;  nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  s^me 
offense  to  be  twic^  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  liinb ;  nor  shall  he  be  com- 
pelled in  any  criminal  case  to  be  a  "vyitness  against  himself,  nor  be  de- 
prived of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law ;  nor  shall 
private  property  be  taken  for  public  use,  without  just  compensation. 

Article  VI.  Right  of  Speedy  Trial.— In  all  criminal  prosecutions 
the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  im- 
partial jury  of  the  State  and  district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been 
committed,  which  district  shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by 
law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ; 
to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him ;  to  have  compulsory 
process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the  assistance 
of  counsel  for  his  defence. 

Article  VII.  Trial  by  Jury.— In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the 
value  in  controversy  shall  exceed  $20,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be 
preserved,  and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in 
any  court  of  the  United  States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  com- 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

Excessive  Bail. — Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excess- 
ive fines  be  imposed,  nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishment  inflicted. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

Enumeration  of  Rights.— The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution 
of  certain  rights,  slia  1  not  be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others 
retained  by  the  people.  • 

ARTICLE  X. 

State  Rights.— The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by 
the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the 
States  respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

Judicial  Power. — The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall 
not  be  construed  to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity  commenced  or 
prosecuted  against  one  of  the  United  States,  by  citizens  of  another  state, 
or  by  citizens  or  subjects  of  any  foreign  state. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

Electors  in  Presidential  Elections.— The  electors  shall  meet  in 
their  respective  States  and  vote  by  ballot  f9r  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State 
with  themselves;  they  shall  name  in  their  ballot  the  person  voted  for  as 
President,  and  in  distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vioe-Presi- 
dent,  and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Presi- 
dent, and  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number 
of  votes  for  each,  which  lists  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit 
sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the 
President  of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates 
and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted.  The  person  having  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  for  President  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number  be 
a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed ;  and  if  no  person 
have  such  majority,  then  from  the  persons  having  the  highest  number* 
not  exceeding  three  on  the  last  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  immediately  by  ballot  the  Pres- 
ident. But  in  choosing  the  President  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States. 
the  representation  from  each  State  having  one  vote ;  a  quorum  for  this 

11 


168  THE   CONSTITUTION. 

purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds  of  the 
States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 
And  if  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President,  when- 
ever the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day 
of  March  next  following,  then  the  Vice-President  shall  act  as  President, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional  disability  of  the  Pres- 
ident. The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the 
whole  number  of  electors  appointed;  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority, 
then  from  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list,  the  Senate  shall  choose 
the  Vice-President ;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall  consist  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  But  no  person  constitutionally 
ineligible  to  to  the  office  of  President  shall  be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice* 
'President  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

1.  Slavery  Forbidden.— Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servi- 
tude, except  as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States  or  any  place 
subject  to  tkeir  jurisdiction. 

2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate 
legislation. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

1.  Equal  Protection  .—All  persons  b9rn  or  naturalized  in  the 
United  States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.    No  State  shall 
make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immuni- 
ties of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any 
person  of  life,  liberty  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law,  nor  deny 
to  c.ny  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

2.  Appointment   of  Representatives.— Representatives  shall 
be  apportioned  among  the  several  States  according  to  their  respective 
numbers,  counting  the  whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  ex- 
cluding Indians  not  taxed.    But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election 
for  the  choice  of  electors  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States,  Representatives  in  Congress,  the  executive  and  judicial 
officers  of  a  State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied 
to  any  of  the  male  members  of  such  State,  being  of  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  ex- 
cept for  participation  in  rebellion  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  represen- 
tation therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which  the  number  of 
such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male  citizens 
twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

3.  Public  Official  Debarred.— No  person  shall  be  a  senator  or 
Representative  in  Cougress,  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice-President, 
or  holding  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or 
under  any  State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as  a  member  of 
Congress  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any 
State  Legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State,  to 
support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  engaged  in 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid  and  comfort  to 
the  enemies  thereof.    But  Congress  may,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  each 
House,  remove  such  disability. 

4.  Public  Debt  Responsibility.— The  validity  of  the  public 
debt  of  the  United  States  authorized  by  law,  including  debts .  incurred 
for  paymentof  pensions  and  bountiesfor  services  in  suppressing  insur- 
rection or  rebellion,  shall  not  be  questioned.    But  neither  the  United 
States  nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred 
in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any 


THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION.  159 

claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave;  but  all  such  debts, 
obligations,  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

5.    The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  appropriate  legis- 
lation, the  provisions  of  this  article. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

1.  Right  Of  Suffrage.— The  right  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by 
any  State  on  account  of  race,  color  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  the  provisions  of 
this  article  by  appropriate  legislation. 


Emancipation  Proclamation  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  January  i,  1863.* 

Whereas,  On  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  .sixty-two,  a  proclamation 
was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  containing  among 
other  things  the  following,  to-wit :  "  That  on  the  first  day  of  January, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three, 
all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  state,  or  designated  part  of  the 
state,  the  people  whereof  shall  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  forever  free ;  and  the  execu« 
tive  government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and 
naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of 
such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  persons  or  any 
of  them  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom ;  that 
the  executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  aforesaid,  by  proclama- 
tion, designate  the  states,  and  parts  of  the  states,  if  any,  in  which  the 
people  thereof,  respectively,  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States ;  and  the  fact  that  any  state,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall 
on  that  day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  by  the  members  chosen  thereto  at  elections 
wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  such  states  shall 
have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  counter-vailing  tes- 
timony, be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such  state,  and  the  people 
thereof  be  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States." 

Now,  therefore,!, Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States.by 
the  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  ascommander-in-chief  of  the  army 


*The  tendency  of  the  government  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  toward  liberal  sentiments  and  the  genertfl  welfare  of  man  is 
shown  by  the  legislation,  considered^  a  whole,  of  Congress  and  of  the 
United  States,  but  by  no  act  more  conspicuously  than  by  the  abolition 
of  the  slavery  in  the  United  States.  Slavery  was  abolished  by  the 
thirteenth  amendment  to  the  constitution,  but  preliminary  to  the 
amendment  was  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  written  and  issued 
by  President  Lincoln. 


160       DEPARTMENTS  OP  OUR  GOVERNMENT. 

and  navy  of  the  United  States  in  the  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion 
against  the  authority  and  government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit 
and  necessary  war-measure  for  suppressing:  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this 
first  day  of  January;  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do, 
publicly  proclaimed  for  tlie  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the 
day  first  above  mentioned,  order  and  designate  a?  the  states  and  part 
of  states,  wherein  the  people  thereof,  respectively,  are  this  day  iu  re- 
bellion against  the  United  States,  the  following,  to-wit:  Arkansas, 
Texas,  Louisiana  (except  the  parishes  of  St.  Bernard,  Plaquemines, 
Jefferson,  Ft.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James.  Ascension,  Assumption, 
Terre-Bonne,  Lafourche,  Ste.  Marie,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans,  includ- 
ing the  city  of  New  Orleans),  Mississippi.  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia  (except  the  forty-eieht 
counties  designated  as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berk- 
ley, Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Anna,  and 
Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth),  and  which 
excepted  parts  are,  for  the  present,  left  precisely  r-sif  this  proclamation 
were  not  issued.  And  by  virtue  of  the  power,  and  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid,  I  do  order  and  declare,  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within 
said  designated  states  and  parts  of  states  are,  and  henceforth  shall 
be  free;  and  that  the  executive  government  of  the  United  States,  in- 
cluding the  military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and 
maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons.  And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the 
people  so  declared  to  be  free  to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in 
necessary  self-defense;  and  I  recommend  to  them,  that  in  all 
cases,  when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 
And  Ifurther  declare  and  make  known,  that  such  persons,  of  suitable 
conditioc,  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of  the  United 
States,  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other  places,  and  to 
man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service.  And  upon  this  act,  sincerely 
believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the  constitution  upon 
military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and 
the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  nnme.  and  caused  the 
seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed.  Done  at  the  City  of  Washing- 
ton this  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
fight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  the  eighty-seventh. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
By  the  President. 

WILLIAM  H.  STEWAHD, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Departments  of  Our  Government. 

1.  Three  Departments. — The  United  States  is  the  most 
extensive  and  powerful  republic  in  the  world.     The  general 
government  as  well  as  the  respective  state  governments  are 
republican  and  representative  in  form.   There  are  three  dis- 
tinct departments  in  each — Legislative,  Executive,  Judicial. 

2.  The  Legislative    Department. — The  Legislative  de- 


f 


"MASSA  SAYS  WE'RE  FREE.1 


w 


162  HOW   BILLS  ARE   PASSED  AND  LAWS   MADE. 

partment  or  Congress  consists  of  two  distinct  bodies — the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives.  Laws  are  enacted 
by  the  concurrrent  action  of  both  these  houses,  and  the 
approval  of  the  President,  by  signing  his  name  to  them. 
When  a  bill  has  passed  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  been 
presented  to  the  President  for  his  signature,  if  he  does  not 
approve  it,  he  may  send  it  back  to  the  House  in  which  it 
originated,  with  his  objections.  After  this,  if  both  Houses 
pass  the  bill,  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  it  becomes  a  law  without 
the  signature  of  the  President.  If  any  bill  is  not  returned 
by  the  President  within  ten  days  (Sundays  excepted)  after 
being  presented  to  him,  it  becomes  a  law  without  his  signa- 
ture, unless  Congress  has  sooner  adjourned. 

3.  The  Executive  Department. — The  Executive  Depart- 
ment consists  of  the  President  and  his  cabinet,  appointed 
by  him  with  the  approval  of  the  Senate,  numbering  eight, 
one  being  at  the  head  of  each  of  the  following- departments 
of  the  government :    The  state,  treasury,  war,  navy,  post- 
office,  justice,  interior,  and  agriculture. 

4.  The  Judicial  Department. — The  Judicial  Department 
consists  of  the  supreme  court  and  the  inferior  courts.    The 
former  is  composed  of  one  chief  justice,  and  eight  associate 
justices.     It  is  the  tribunal  in  the  nation,  and  its  decisions 
are  intended   to  construe  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of 
the  laws  of  the  land,  and  to  decide  appeals  from  inferior 
courts. 


How  Bills  are  Passed  and  Laws  Made 
in  Congress. 

i.  The  Framers  of  the  Constitution. — Most  of  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution  were  elected  members  of  the 
first  Congress.  Their  wisdom  and  patriotism  did  not  desert 
them,  and  every  bill  that  became  a  law  was  the  subject  of 
active  debate  by  all.  To  prevent  the  hasty  consideration  of 
any  measure,  rules  were  adopted  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  the  Senate,  but  while  it  is  true  that  many  of 


HOW  BILLS  ARE  PASSED  AND  LAWS  MADE. 


163 


ADLAI  STEVENSON, 
Vice-President  1893-97. 


these  early  rules  still  remain  in  the  manual  of  each  House, 
their  force  has  been  lost  in  the  neecjs  and  demands  of  in- 
creased legislation.  It  is  seldom,  indeed,  that  a  bill  is 
deemed  important  enough  to  arouse  general  debate,  and 
frequently  bills  are  rushed  through  Congress  which  have 
been  hastily  considered  and  are  possessed  of  little  merit. 

2.  Over  Fifteen  Thousand  Bills.— In  the  Fifty-second 
Congress  there  were  over  fifteen  thousand  bills  introduced 
in  the  Senate  and  House.  They  were  referred,  as  thev  were 
in  the  earlier  Congresses,  to  the  proper  committees.  Thou- 
sands of  them  were  considered  by  these  committees,  and 
reported  back  to  their  respective  Houses  either  favorably 


164  HOW  BILLS  ARE  PASSED  AND  LAWS  MADE. 

or  unfavorably,  and  hundreds  of  them  were  passed,  but  of 
the  whole  number  introduced  only  a  small  percentage 
became  laws. 

3.  The  Course  of  a  Bill  Through  Congress  is  most  in- 
teresting.  Take,  for  instance,  a  private  bill  that  has  had  its 
origin  in  the  Senate  (and  for  the  purpose  of  illustration  the 
Senate  will  do  as  well  as  the  House,  for  in  both  of  these 
bodies  the  system  is  practically  the  same).    A  private  bill 
is,  as  the  term  indicates,  for  the  relief  of  some  individual, 
while  a  general  or  "  public  "  measure  is  far-reaching  in  its 
effect.    In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the  senator  who  introduces 
a  private  bill  is  solicited  to  do  so  by  one  of  his  constituents 
who  wants  a  pension,  or  who  desires  the  charge  of  deser- 
tion removed  from  his  military  record,  or  who  has  a  claim 
against  the  government  of  some  kind  or  the  other.     The 
bill  may  or  may  not  be  properly  draughted,  but  whether  it 
is  or  not,  it  is  usually  introduced  by  the  senator  without 
careful  consideration. 

4.  The  First  Reading  of  the  Bill.— There  is  a  legend 
printed  on  the  bill  that  the  senator  first  asked  and  obtained 
consent  to  introduce  the  bill;  but,  in  fact,  the  senator  does 
nothing  of  the  kind.   He  rises  in  his  place  during  the  morn- 
ing hour,  when  the  introduction   of  bills  is   in  order,  and 
simply  reads  the  title  of  the  bill  and  askes  that  it  be  re- 
ferred to  the  proper  committee.     The  title  of  the  bill  is 
then  read  by  the  reading  clerk,  and  the  reference  is  made 
in  a  perfunctory  way  by  the  President  of  the  Senate.    That 
is  called  the  first  reading  of  the  bill.    It  is  true  that  an  ob- 
jection might  be  raised  to  the  first  reading  of  the  bill,  but 
that  has  not  been  done  for  years,  if,  in  fact,  it  was  ever  done. 

5.  Introducing  the  Bill  by  Request. — It  is  not  difficult 
to  get  a  bill  introduced.     If  the  senator  or  representative 
does  not  care  to  be  responsible  for  it,  he  states  that  he  intro- 
duces the  bill  by  request,  and  it  is  so  printed.    There  are 
many  people,  ignorant  of   the  course  of  legislation,  who 
believe  that  the  mere  introduction  of  the  bill  insures  its 
passage,  and  it  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  there  are  senators 
and  representatives  who  give  false  hope  to  their  constitu- 
ents by  simply  introducing  the  measure,  sending  a  copy  of 
it  to  the  claimant,  and  then  dismissing  the  whole  matter 
from  their  minds. 

6.  The  Life  of  a  Bill  terminates  with  the  Congress  in 
which  it  was  introduced,  and  it  is  customary  with  some  to 
icintroduce  in  the  new  Congress  all  of  the  old  bills  which 
were  not  favorably  acted  upon.    In  the  Fifty-Second  Con- 
gress one  senator  from  a  middle  state,  probably  through  the 
zeal  of  his  private  secretary,  introduced  an  old  bill  four 


AN  EXCITING  SCENE  IN  CONGRESS, 
12  165 


HOW  BILLS  ARE  PASSED  AND  LAWS  MADE. 

times.    In  each  case  the  bill  was  referred  to  the  same  com- 
mittee and  was  exactly  for  the  same  relief. 

7.  The  Old  Bill  is  usually  accompanied  by  a  mass  of 
papers  that  have  upon  them  the  earmarks  of  preceding  Con- 
gresses.   These  papers  cannot  be  withdrawn  from  the  files 
of  the  Seriate  if  at  any  previous  time  the  measure  has  been 
reported  upon  adversely.    They  are  retained  in  evidence  of 
that  adverse  action,  but  if  a  measure  has  been  reported 
favorably  the  papers  may  be  withdrawn  upon  a  motion  of  a 
senator.  _  Old  claims  may  or  may  not  be  meritorious,  but 
they  are  invariably  regarded  with  suspicion  as  well  as  dis- 
like.   The  multitudinous  duties  of  a  senator  leave  him  but 
little  time  to  delve  into  musty  papers  and  to  prepare  writ- 
ten reports  which  will  stand  the  test  of  the  committee,  let 
alone  the  Senate. 

8.  To  Get  a  Bill  Out  of  the  Committee.— It  is  a  hard 
matter  to  get  a  bill  out  of  the  committee,  for  several  reasons. 
Most  of  the  committees  of  the  Senate  are  composed  of  nine 
members.    These    members    are  in  turn  appointed    sub- 
committees, to  which  are  assigned  the  various  bills  which 
have  been  referred  to  the  whole  committee.    In  the  course 
of  a  Congress  these  references  to  the  working  committees 
of  the  Senate  consist  of  from  three  to  nine  hundred  meas- 
ures.   All  of  this  means  a  great  deal  of  exacting  work.    Per- 
haps in  the  mass  of  bills  referred  to  an  individual  senator, 
as  a  sub-committee,  there  is  a  large  percentage  which  is  not 
deserving  of  a  favorable  recommendation.    These  bills  are 
usually  held  back,  out  of  consideration  to  the  senators  who 
have  introduced  them.    If  a  report  is  urged  upon  any  one 
of  them  it  means  unfavorable  action,  and  that  is  never 
desired,  as  an  unfavorable  report  practically  kills  the  bill. 
But  outside  of  these  bills  there  are  many  meritorious  meas- 
ures which  lie  dormant  until  the  sub-committee  in  charge  is 
stirred  up  to  make  a  report  upon  them. 

9.  When  a  Bill  Has  Passed  the  Committee,  the  one 
who  has  prepared  the  report  submits  the  bill,  amended  or 
not,  as  the  case  may  be.    The  bill  is  reprinted  with  its 
amendments,  and  is  given  a  calendar  number.    The  report 
is  also  printed  and  given  the  same  calendar  number,  the 
calendar  being  a  record  of  each  of  the  bills  in  the  order  in 
which  it  is  reported  back  to  the  Senate  with  the  favorable 
or  unfavorable  recommendation  of  the  committee. 

At  this  period  in  the  course  of  the  passage  of  the  bill, 
the  claimant  feels  hopeful.  He  believes  his  measure  is 
nearly  a  law,  for  if  it  is  passed  by  the  Senate,  he  will  then 
have  to  get  it  only  through  the  House.  Perhaps  he  has  an- 
ticipated the  action  of  the  Senate,  arid,  has  had  **. similar  bilj 


HOW  BILLS  ARE  PASSED  AND  LAWS  MADE.  167 

already  introduced  in  the  House.  His  efforts  may  have 
been  successful  in  that  body  and  the  bill  may  be  on  the 
House  calendar  also. 

10.  Both  the  Senate  and  the  House. — But  the  work  of 
getting  the  bill  on  both  the  Senate  and  House  calendars 
has  been  the  work  of  months.    The  committees  usually 
meet  but  once  a  week,  and  then  remain  in  session  not  over 
an  hour  and  a  half.  For  weeks  at  a  time  no  legislative  busi- 
ness may  be  considered  by  the  committee  in  charge  of  his 
bill,  on  account  of  nominations  made  by  the   President, 
However,  the  private  claimant  finds  that  weeks  have  passed 
into  months,  the  long  session  ended,  and  the  short  one 
begun  before  he  gets  his  bill  on  the  calendar  of  each  house. 
There  is  not  much  time  for  legislation  of  a  private  charac- 
ter in  the  short  session,  except  at  the  beginning.      The 
appropriation  bills  for  carrying  on  the  government  for  the 
ensuing  fiscal  year  must  be  prepared,  and,  as  they  have  the 
right  of  way  over  all  other  legislation,  a  private  bill  must 
take  its  chances.    But  being  on  both  the  Senate  and  House 
calenders,  it  has  a  favorable  prospect. 

11.  When  the  Bill  Has  Passed  Either  the  House  or 
the  Senate  it  becomes  an  act  and  is  signed  by  the  Clerk  of 
the  House  if  it  be  a  House  bill,  and  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Senate  if  it  be  a  Senate  bill.    The  Senate  bill  has  now  be- 
come an  act  and  is  again  reprinted,  but  still  retains  its 
identity  as  a  Senate  measure.    The  only  changes  are  in  the 
heading,  which  reads  "  in  the  House  of  Representatives," 
and  in  affixing  the  date  of  passage  and  the  name  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Senate. 

12.  Many  Bills  Are  Reported. — During  the  course  of 
a  Congress  many  bills  are  reported.    The  House  calendar 
in  the  last  days  of  a  Congress  is  usually  a  thick,  voluminous 
document,  and  it  would  be  a  matter  of  impossibility  to  dis- 
pose of  all  of  the  bills,  which  still  remain  on  the  calendar. 
It  is  customary,  therefore,  for  the  House  to  assign  to  the  sev- 
eral important  committees  one  or  two  days  each  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  business  which  these  committees  deem  most 

Eressing.  Only  a  few  of  the  many  bills  can  be  selected  to 
e  pushed  to  a  final  passage.  The  claimant  must  still  be 
on  the  alert  to  secure  for  his  bill  a  place  among  those  which 
shall  be  given  this  great  favor.  If  his  bill  passes  it  goes 
back  to  the  Senate,  with  the  amendments  made  by  the 
House. 

13.  Accepting  or   Rejecting  the   Amendments. — The 
Senate  then  has  to  concur  in  the  amendments  or  reject  them. 
If  they  are  accepted  and  adopted  by  the  Senate,  the  bill  is 
ready  for  the  President's  signature. 


168    CONGRESS  COMPARED  WITH  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENTS. 

14.  The  President's  Signature.— When  the  act  is  laid 
before  the  President  a  few  hurried  words,  needed  to  explain 
the  purport  of  the  bill,  are  spoken.  If  they  are  not  satisfac- 
tory a  "pocket  veto"  follows,  which  means  that  the  Presi- 
dent has  declined  to  approve  the  law,  and  it  therefore  dies 
with  the  Congress.  This  frequently  happens.  But  if  the 
President  is  satisfied  he  affixes  his  signature,  his  executive 
private  secretary  records  the  number  of  the  bill  in  his  book 
and  then  rushes  out  of  the  doorway  to  appear  calmly  in 
front  of  the  President  of  the  Senate  and  announce  that  the 
President  has  approved  Senate  bill  of  such  a  number.  The 
private  bill  has  become  a  law  and  the  claimant  is  at  rest. 

Our  Congress  Compared  With  Euro= 
pean  Parliaments. 

1.  Delays  and  Losses. — The  uncertainties,  delays  and 
losses  attending   the  law-making  faculties  of  the  United 
States,  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  at  Wash- 
ington bring  home  sharply  and  tangibly  to  every  citizen  in 
the  land  as  to  excite  not  only  an  extraordinary  interest  in 
regard  to  our  congressional  methods  of  doing  business,  but, 
also,  in  regard  to  parliamentary  ways  and  methods  in  other 
countries.     The  vexed  questions  of  "quorum,"  "silver," 
"  tariff,"  have  of  late  been  thrust  forward  so  prominently,  and 
debated  so  bunglingly  and  lengthily,  as  to  compel  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public  mind  and  to  cause  it  to  inquire,  to  wonder, 
how  knotty  questions  of  like  perplexing  and  weighty  char- 
acter are  dealt  with  when  drifted  into  by  the  legislative 
bodies  of  other  great  countries. 

2.  Origin  of  Legislative  Bodies. — The  parliamentary 
g«rm  is  traceable  to  remote  ages.    First  appearing  in  the 
rough  councils  of  primitive  tribes,  it  developed  by  slow  gra- 
dations until  it  fairly  blossomed  out  amidst  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  and,  upon  their  collapse,  it  withered  and  under- 
went decay.    Parliamentarism,  or  the  exercise  of  a  nation's 
sovereignty  through  regularly  elected  bodies,  is  distinctly  a 
modern  outgrowth,  its  original  home  England,  whence  it 
spread  to  other  countries,  which  more  or  less  successfully 
adopted  it.    The  American  Congress  is  based  essentially  on 
the  English  lines,  and  is  really  an  importation,  pruned  and 
trained  to  suit  the  requirements  of  a  new  world.    The  base 
upholds  the  superstructure,  and,  fortunately,  in  this  partic- 
ular instance  was  of  a  vivifying,  enduring  kind,  and  so  the 
superstructure  remains  capable  of   improvement,  which 
many  think  is  now  greatly  needed. 


CONGRESS  COMPARED  WITH  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENTS.  169 

3.  Written  Constitution. — In  considering  the  English 
system,  the  striking  fact  stands  out  that  the  most  powerful 
and  leading  parliamentary  nation  during  the  last  few  cen- 
turies never  possessed  a  written  constitution,  and  that  one 
merely  fixed  by  practice  and  precedents  amply  sufficed  for 
the  enormous  share  of  prosperity  and  freedom  it  enjoyed 
throughout  that  extended  period. 

4.  The  Difference  Between  the  English  and  the  Conti- 
nental Constitutions. — The  difference  between  them  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  former  gradually  grew  into  life,  while  the  lat- 
ter were  made  to  order  at  short  notice  and  launched  without  a 
particle  of  inherent  vitality,  truly  very  readable  on  paper, 
but  unsuited  to  long  use  and  liable  to  be  erased  at  a  stroke 
of  the  pen,  or  rather  the  sword. 

5.  The  House  of  Commons. — The  House  of  Commons, 
elected  by  the  people  on  an  enlarged  suffrage  plan,  and  the 
House  of  Lords,  of  hereditary  membership,  have  been  very 
much  improved  as  working  machines  within  the  past  fifty 
years,  although  their  school  of  oratory  cannot  be  ranked  as 
high  as  in  the  days  of  Pitt  and  Burke,  or  even  so  late  as  of 
Peel,  Bright  and  Palmerton.     The  only  notable  orator  left 
over  from  the  old  school  is  Mr.  Gladstone,  the  present  octo- 
genarian, recently  having  retired  from  public  office. 

6.  The  Current  Style  in  the  Commons. — The  current 
style  is  plain,  concise  English  for  the  transaction  of  the  bus- 
iness of  the  day,   beyond   which  its    statesmanship    now 
neither  looks  nor  is  capable  of  looking.    The  body  harbors, 
no  uncommon,  remarkable  talent;  the  oratory  is  fair,  so  far 
as  it  goes.    There  is  no  straining  for  effect,  no  "stump, 
speaking  "  for  petty  outside  communities;  no  talking  to  the 
galleries,  and  there  is  a  steady  sticking  to  practical  work 
both  in  the  House  and  in  the  committee  rooms. 

7.  Improvement  Over  the  Practice  of  Congressmen. — 
This  is  a  decided  improvement  over  the  practice  of  Con- 
gressmen who,  being  exceedingly  fond  of  cheap  notoriety, 
prattle  by  the  hour  to  the  galleries  and  to  the  reporters,, 
though  in  the  meantime  necessary  questions  be  waiting  con- 
sideration.   Stump  speaking,  for  the  most  part  a  mixture  of 
screaming  words  and  guffaws,  is  the  besetting  sin  of  the 
newly  fledged  delegates  at  Washington,  eager  to  make 
themselves  heard,  through  the  press,  to  their  local  constitu- 
ents.   Nothing  of  the  kind  has  a  foothold  in  the  English 
Parliament.    The  general  public  is  too  critical  and  exacting- 
to  tolerate  neglect  of  business,  which  is  always  important 
because  it  so  nearly  concerns  both  local  and  national  affairs, 
as  no  European  Parliament  is  free  to  disregard  local  mat- 
ters and  devote  itself  exclusively  to  high  national  affairs,  as 


CONGRESS  COMPARED  WITH  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENTS.  171 

Congress  is  compelled  to  do  under  our  mixed  system.  For 
the  rest,  a  special  public  is  not  allowed  in  the  galleries  of 
the  London  building,  as  in  the  two  Washington  Houses, 
wherein  the  gallery  audience  greatly  outnumbers  the  mem- 
bers and  almost  overawes  them  by  the  influence  of  open 
applause  or  condemnation.  Here  again,  in  this  small  item 
of  gallery  restriction,  our  Republican  system  might  adopt, 
without  any*silly  conceit,  a  betterment  from  the  mother 
country. 

8.  Filibustering. — Filibustering  is    now  impossible  in 
any  European  Parliament,  and  should  be  equally  impossible 
at  Washington,  the  minority's  pretenses  being  altogether  in- 
defensible. The  French  were  the  first  to  see  the  necessity  of 
the  cloture  rule,    and    in    this  their  notorious  chop-logic 
instinct  placed  them  on  the  right  track  for  once.   It  is  a  vast 
improvement,  a  logical  and  indispensable  step  in  accord- 
ance   with  the    more  rapid  advances  in    every    civilized 
land;  it  simply  prevents  a  few,  most  often  cranky,  persons 
from  putting  obstructions  on  the  track  to  stop  the  train,  of 
progress. 

9.  The  House  of  Lords. — The  sessions  of  the  House  of 
Lords,  presided  over  by   Lord  Chancellor,  have  a  strictly 
perfunctory  character,  though  in  picturesqueness  of   splen- 
did scenery  it  holds  first  rank.    The  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons  is    elected  by   the  members,  and  has  great 
power  and  many  privileges.     In  the  usual  course  of  his  pre- 
siding he  takes  the  chair  at  4  P.  M.,  when  prayers  are  read 
by  a  clergyman  of  the  Established  Church,  and  the  business 
of  the  day  commences.    The  members  invariably  thin  out 
about  dinner  hour,    which  is  7,    to  return  about  9    P.  M., 
when  the  night's  sitting  is  entered  on  in  earnest,  to  last 
sometimes  until  daybreak,  and  always  until  the  small  hours 
of  the  morning. 

10.  Parliamentary  Holidays. — The  Parliamentary  holi- 
days are  frequent  during  a  session,  all  the  more  so  as  the 
ministerial  tenure  of  office  is  not  fixed,  but  is  subject  to  the 
uncertainties  of  voting.  The  best  debating  nights  are  Mon- 
days and  Thursdays,  and  on  Wednesday  the  House  sits 
only  from  noon  to  6  P.  M.;  of  course  there  is  no  sitting  on 
Sunday,  which,  however,  on  the  continent  is  an  important 
day  for  official  work,  elections  being  held  on  that  day  when 
they  become  necessary.     Unless  forty  members  are  present 
at  a  sitting,  it  is  agreed  that  "there  is  no  House,"  to  use  z. 
Parliamentary  phrase;  that  is,  not  a  sufficient  quorum  to 
transact  the  public  business. 

xx.     Queer  Privileges. — All  members  sit  on   benches, 
and  have  no  desks  as  congressmen  have.    The  attitudes  of 


THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS,  THE  LEGISLATIVE  HALL 
OF  THE  ENGLISH  ARISTOCRACV- 


172 


CONGRESS  COMPARED  WITH  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENTS.  178 

the  members,  when  not  speaking,  are  limited  by  ho  conven- 
tionalities, and  the  greatest  freedom  is  allowed,  including 
the  practice  of  smoking  and  drinking  at  will,  wearing  hats, 
and  a  considerable  amount  of  subdued  playfulness  and 
chaffing  in  the  English  style. 

12.  Ministers. — Ministers,    though    appointed    by  the 
(Jueen,  have  also  to  be  members,  and,  after  appointment, 
are   invariably   re-elected    by    their    constituencies.     The 
benches  to  the  right  of  the  Speaker's  chair  are  the  recog- 
nized seats  of  the  government  party,  the  heads  of  which, 
the  ministers,  occupy  the  first  bench.    The  benches  to  the 
left  of  the  Speaker's  chair  are  filled  by  the  members  form- 
ing the  "opposition,"  the  leaders  of  which  also  take  their 
seats  on  the  first  bench  directly  confronting  the  ministerial 
bench.    The  ministers,  being  responsible  both  for  the  mak- 
ing and  execution  of  the  laws,  occupy  the  front  rank,  the 
main  position  in  the  House  of  Commons,  of  which  the  prime 
minister  is  the  recognized  leader,  though  the  opposition  has 
its  own  special  leader. 

13.  Voting. — The  process  of  voting  is  done,  not  by  a 
roll  call,  but  by  the  members  passing  into  their  respective 
"division  lobby,"  in  order  to  be  counted;  the  count  is  what 
tells.    The  ayes,  or  those  in  favor  of  the  ministry,  retire 
into  the  lobby  on  the  right  of  the  Speaker's  chair,  and  the 
noes,  or  those  voting  with   the  opposition,  retire  into  the 
lobby  on  the  left  of  the  Speaker's  chair. 

14.  The  Queen  Opens  Parliament. — When  the  Queen 
opens  Parliament,  and  she  also  prorogues  or  dissolves  it 
when  the  premier  authorizes,  she  enters  the  building  through 
the  "  Victoria  Tower,"  and  proceeds  to  her  "  robing  room," 
which  is  a  spacious  apartment  elegantly  fitted  up,  and  only 
issues  from  it  to  march  in  solemn  procession — black  roa, 
crown,  and  other  regal  paraphernalia — through  the  Victoria 
gallery,  110  feet  in  length,  to  the  House  of   Lords.     She 
makes  this  march  on  foot,  as  it  would  be  against  English 
etiquette  for  her  to  be  carried  in  a  "  sedia  gestatoria  "  (porta- 
ble chair),  as  the  Pope  of  Rome  is  in  St.  Peter's.    English 
etiquette  is  extremely  exacting,somuch  so  that  Her  Majesty 
is  now  more  than  ever  addicted  to  shirking  it.    On  arriving 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  her  throne  awaits  her  to  sit  down  on. 

15.  In  Full  Dress. — The  peers  in  the  presence  of  the  Queen 
are  arrayed  in  their  robes,  the  members  of  the  House  ofCom- 
mons  are  in  dress  suits,  the  ladies  of  the  court  in  attendance 
are  attired  in  splendid  costumes,  and  the  scene  itself  is  emi- 
nently adapted  to  such  a  rich  display,  the  House  of  Lor<Js 
being  sumptuously  decorated  in  the  richest  Gothic  style.  The 
ceremony  being  ended  with  the  reading  of  the  royal  speech, 
royalty  goes  back  over  the  same  route  to  its  palatial  home. 


- 


iHBI 


174 


CONGRESS  COMPARED  WITH  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENTS.  175 

16.  The  French   Assembly. — The   present   Assembly, 
consisting  of  a  Senate  and  Chamber  of  Deputies,  was  insti- 
tuted by  Jules  Favre  and  Gambetta  at  Paris,  in  September, 
1870.    As  it  is  a  very  numerous  body,  representing  the  most 
mercurial  of  nations,  its  debates  are  remarkably  stormy,  and 
the  scenes  enacted  during  debating  battles  are  simply  in- 
describable, eclipsing  anything  ever  seen  or  heard  in  tfie 
other  more  orderly  capitals.    The  orators  speak  from  a 
special  tribune,  and  when  they  get  off  any  brilliant  effort 
they  are  duly  congratulated  by  their  colleagues  of  their  own 
set,  for  the  political  factions  and  hues  are  numerous,  and 
every  prominent  politician  has  his  own  clique,  or  coterie,  in 
addition.   Wit,  ridicule  and  sarcasm  are  the  favorite  weap- 
ons, more  relied  on  than  good  judgment  and  sound  argu- 
ments, because  they  can  be  quickly  made  to  tell  in  the 
debating,  which  is  invariably  in  a  desultory,  running  and 
leaping  fashion,  impossible  of    accurate  following  by  the 
reporters. 

17.  The  Members. — The  members  sit  on  benches,  and 
both  the  Senate  and  Chamoer  are  directed,  from  elevated 
"tribunes,"  by  "Presidents."    A    prominent    feature  is  the 
abundance  of  official  ushers  and  attendants,  dressed  up  in 
gorgeous  liveries,  with  chains  of  honor  on  their  coat  lapels 
who  flit  frequently  about  the  floor,  the  corridors  and  rooms, 
in  obedience  to  the  fickle  demands  made  upon  them. 

18.  Italian  Parliament. —When  the   Italian  kingdom 
was  recently  formed  it  simply  continued  the  constitution 
and  parliament  which  little  Piedmont  had  adopted  during 
the  revolutionary  period.    On  taking  possession  of  Rome  it 
was  found  to  be  without  a  Parliament  building,  as  the  popes 
had  never  had  any  use  for  this  species  of  machinery,  and  so 
the  construction  of  one  was  at  once  ordered.    A  site  was 
picked  out,  where  the  papal  prisons  stood,  at  Monte  Citorio, 
and  they  were  pulled  down,  to  the  great  glee  of  many  revo- 
lutionists who  had  been  confined  in  their  dungeons,  and  a 
hasty  building  was  put  up  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
members  who  migrated  from  the  old  capital,  Florence,  to 
the  new  one.     Since  that  day  the  Italian  Parliament  has 
held  uninterrupted  sessions  in  the  "Monte  Citorio  Palace." 
The  members  are  generally  more  orderly  and  restrained  in 
debate  than  the  French  deputies,  but  they  can  be,  on  some 
occasions,  more  noisy  and  furious,  even  unto  blows  and  the 
drawing  of  weapons.    The  debates  are  rarely  of  interest, 
the   proceedings  being  unenlivened  by    the    least    wit  or 
repartee,  now  that  the  more  prominent  statesmen  who  built 
up  the  kingdom  have  either  died  or  withdrawn  from  active 
politics. 


176  CHANGES  IN  CONGRESS. 

19.  The  German  Reichstag.— The  Imperial  Mouse  of 
Parliament,  known  as  the  "  Reichstag,"  is  in  close  proximity 
to  the  "war  office,"  in  Leipsic  street,  which  fairly  throws  it 
into  the  ooolest  of  shades  and  remotest  of  backgrounds 
combined;  in  fact,  it  is  difficult  to  find  where  the  Imperial 
German  Parliament  is  at,  literally  as  well  as  metaphorically, 
for  it  is  a  small  concern  dimly  visible,  as  through  a  glass, 
darkly,  in  the  concrete,  and  history  has  yet  to  record  what 
public  use  it  has  served,  what  practical  result  given,  even 
to  the  Kaiser  or  his  family.  Bismarck  started  the  Reichs- 
tag on  the  well-worn  road  of  registering  the  imperial  will  in 
the  shape  of  voted  laws,  and  the  late  chancellor,  Count 
von  Caprivi,  has  kept  the  gentlemen  voters  well  up  to 
their  set  tasks.  All  the  parties,  including  the  Socialists,  are 
represented  in  it,  but  this  is  of  no  avail  to  them  if  free  debate 
is  useless,  even  when  tolerated  by  the  arbitrary  ministers, 
who  either  get  the  certain  number  of  votes  their  measures 
require  or  order  a  new  Parliament,  brand  new  from  the 
polls  superintended  by  the  police  and  the  military. 

The  Great  Changes  in  Congress  from 

the  First  Extra  Session  Called  by 

President  Adams  and  the  Last 

Extra  Session  Called  by 

President  Cleveland. 

1.  Increase  in  Representation. — Each  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  is  theoretically  the  mouthpiece 
ot  just  173,901  persons — a  decided  increase  over  the  30,000 
that  a  representative  stood  for  in  the  first  Congress.    The 
smaller  number  was  provided  for  by  the  first  Constitution, 
the  larger  is  based  on  the  last  census. 

2.  First  Extra  Session. — Every  member  of  the  present 
Congress  may  reasonably  be  presumed  to  have  read  the 
proclamation  calling  the  extra  session  within  twenty-four 
hours  after  it  was  issued,  although  scattered  over  a  terri- 
tory nearly  as  large  as  all  Europe.     When  the  first  extra 
session   of   Congress    ever  held  was   called  by  President 
John  Adams  in  March,  1797,  many  a  member  did  not  even 
learn    the    fact    for  six  weeks.      Small    as    the    country 
then  was  —  some  sixteen  states  mostly  along  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  —  it  would  have  been  impossible  for   Congress 
to    assemble  in  the  single  month  allowed  by  President 
Cleveland    for    the    legislative    branch    of    the  govern- 
ment   to  come    together.      Indeed,   one    gentleman  who 
had  raced  across  the    country  on   horseback    to    attend 


CHANGES  IN  CONGRESS.  177 


GEN.  ALGER,  Ex  U.  S.  Senator. 

the  special  session  of  1797  did  not  reach  Philadelphia-- 
then  the  nation's  capital  —  until  after  Congress  had  ad- 
journed. In  that  year  the  Senate  and  House  assembled  in  a 
little  brick  building  with  a  few  rooms  in  it.  The  White 
House  was  just  a  block  away  and  likewise  of  brick  and  very 
modest.  The  reason  for  the  special  session  was  that  wai 
with  France  was  imminent.  It  never  came,  no  thanks  to 
the  fifth  Congress.  The  government  at  that  time  paid  nti 
salary  to  the  President's  private  secretary  nor  to  the  execu- 
tive'clerks,  pages,  or  other  more  or  less  useful  function- 
aries. When  Congress  opened,  President  Adams  appeared 
before  the  Senate  and  House  and  made  a  speech  to  the  mem- 
bers. When  he  had  finished  everybody  stood  up  respect- 
fully as  he  passed  out. 

3.  Last  Extra  Session. — No  such  scene  was  witnessed 
on  August  7,  1893.  President  Cleveland  did  not  enter  the 
halls  of  Congress.  The  cabinet  in  1797  contained  five  mem- 
bers :  Timothy  Pickering,  Secretary  of  State;  Oliver  Wol- 
cott,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  James  McHenry,  Secretary 
of  War;  Joseph  Habersham,  Postmaster-General.and  Charles 
Lee,  Attorney-General.  There  was  no  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior, no  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  no  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture. In  fact  the  Postmaster-General  was  not  a  member 
of  the  cabinet  in  1797,  and  the  presidential  advisers  were 
therefore  but  four  in  number  when  Congress  first  met  in 
special  session.  The  states  were  sixteen  all  told  —  the 
thirteen  original  colonies  and  Vermont,  Kentucky  and 


178 


CHANGES   IN  CONGRESS. 


T.  C.  PLATT.  Ex.  U.  S.  Senator,  from  New  York. 

Tennessee.  The  Senate  numbered  thirty-two  members  in- 
stead of  eighty-eight.  There  were  no  territories.  The  city 
of  Washington  did  not  exist.  The  White  House  of  1797  has 
disappeared  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Its  site  in  Phila- 
delphia is  unmarked  by  anything  but  a  hideous  brick  struc- 
ture that  is  leased  for  a  shirt  factory  and  a  photograph  gal- 
lery. The  old  Independence  hall  still  stands,  but  so 
changed  in  many  respects  that,  the  members  of  the  fifth 
Congress  would  not  recognize  it  could  they  see  the  struc- 
ture. 

The  Congress  summoned  by  President  Cleveland  in 
special  session,  contained  444  members,  not  counting  the 
four  territorial  delegates. 

4.  The  Fifty-fourth  Congress. — The  present  (Decembei 
1895-97)  is  the  Fifty-fourth  Congress.  Its  membership  has 
been  increased  by  the  admission  of  Utah  as  the  forty-fifth 
state.  The  Senate  consisting  of  ninety  members,  is  divided 
among  the  parties  thus:  Republicans  45,  Democrats  39, 
Populists  6.  The  House  consists  of  357  members:  Repub- 
licans 245,  Democrats  105,  Populists  and  Silver  Party  7. 


CHANGES   IN   CONGRESS. 


179 


5.  The  Disadvantages  of  Having  a  New  Congress.— 
The  members  of  Congress  are  elected  in  November,  but  it 
is  generally  a  year  from  the  following"  December  before^ 
they  benefit  the  country  with  their  law-making  powers, 
Usually  thirteen  months  intervene  before  the  new  Congress 
is  called  into  power  to  act  for  the  people.  In  1892  the  new 
Congress  was  overwhelmingly  Democratic  but  the  Repub- 
lican Congress  continued  to  control  till  April  4,  until  their 
actions  and  theories  had  been  repudiated  by  the  people. 
In  1894  the  Democratic  majority  in  the  Congress  were 
overthrown  and  a  surprising  Republican  majority  elected, 
yet  the  Democrats  after  being  overthrown  and  repudiated^ 


ASSEMBLED  IN  CONGRESS. 

were  permitted  to  make  laws  until  the  first  of  March.  When 
the  people  have  lost  confidence  in  the  representatives  of  a 
party  they  should  not  be  permitted  to  continue  in  power, 
but  yield  to  the  new  elected  representatives  who  represent 
the  popular  will  of  the  people.  The  newly  chosen  Con- 
gress should  enter  at  once  upon  work  at  New  Year's  so  that 
the  country  may  not  be  embarrassed  by  the  privileges  ol 
an  independent  Congress. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Voting,  The  Ballot,  and  Ballot  Re* 
form,  The  History  of  Voting. 

1.  Origin.— Where  did   the  ballot  come  from?     Like 
Topsy,  and  most  other  institutions,  it  "  growed,"    And  in  its 
growth  it  has  taken  such  varied  forms  that  it  will  make  an 
interesting  study.    Of  course,  in  the  good,  old  times,  when 
all  civilized  countries  were  governed  by  kings,  there  was  no 
use  for  a  ballot.    A  primitive,  self-governing  tribe,  like  those 
of  the  ancient  Germans,  were  satisfied  with  viva-voce  voting. 
The  Jews,  before  they  had  kings,  might  be  called  a  self- 
governing  people.    Strictly,  however,  their  theory  of  govern- 
ment put  everything  into  the  hands  of  God,  and  in  technical 
terms  was  a  theocracy.    If  a  public  officer  must  be  chosen, 
he  was  named   by   God's   representative,    the    priest   or 
prophet,  or  else  lots  were  cast,  and  it  was  expected  that  God 
would  send  the  right  lot  to  the  right  man.    It  is  not  unlikely 
that  such  casting  of  lots  gave  the  first  hints  of  a  secret 
ballot. 

2.  The  Greek  Ballot.— The  ancient  Greeks  used  the 
ballot  in  enacting  laws  and  in  courts,  where  there  was  a  large 
number  of  judges.    The  ballot  there  was  originally  a  pebble, 
whole  for  a  yes  vote,  or  pierced  with  a  hole  for  a  no.    Some- 
times thero  was  only  one  stone,  which  was  dropped  into  a 
yes  or  no  box.    Later  the  pebble  was  changed  for  a  little 
bronze  wheel.    A  few  of  these  have  been  found  in  modern 
times,  stamped  on  one  side  with  the  words,  "  Official  ballot.' 
and  on  the  other  with  the  number  of  the  judicial  district. 

In  electing  officers  the  Greeks  voted  by  show  of  hands. 
Often  officers  were  appointed  by  lot.  White  and  black 
beans  were  used  for  lots,  and  those  who  were  understood 
to  be  hungry  for  office  received  the  suggestive  name  of  bean- 
eaters.  The  idea  here  was  that  every  citizen  was  good 
enough  to  hold  office,  and  this  was  the  most  impartial  way 
180 


THE  HISTORY  OF  VOTING.  181 

of  dividing  the  spoils.  They  never  used  a  secret  ballot  to 
vote  for  candidates  in  the  modern  fashion,  but  only  to  vote 
against  them. 

3.  Ostracism. — If  party  spirit  was  running  high,  and  the 
power  of  a  boss  was  growing  dangerous,  a  vote  of  exile  was 
ordered.    Each  citizen  wrote  a  name  on  an  oyster  shell  or  a 
piece  of  broken  crockery,  and  put  this  vote  secretly  into  the 
box.    Any  boss  against  whom  there  was  a  sufficient  majority 
must  leave  the  country  for  ten  years. 

This  peculiar  institution,  called  ostracism,  is  really  the 
nearest  approach  the  Greeks  made  to  a  modern  ballot  sys- 
tem. Ostracism  went  out  of  use  because  on  a  certain  im- 
portant occasion  the  thunderbolt  failed  to  hit  either  of  the 
prominent  leaders,  but  struck  a  comparatively  obscure 
person. 

The  details  are  not  quite  clear.  It  has  been  suggested, 
however,  that  the  great  bosses  made  a  deal  by  which  they 
were  to  let  each  other  alone,  and  give  all  the  votes  to  a 
troublesome  third  party  man.  This  result  was  so  unsatis- 
factory to  the  people  that  ostracism  was  given  up. 

4.  Roman  Ballot. — The  ballot  was  introduced  into  Rome 
in  the  second  century  B.  C.     This  was  the  real  Australian 
ballot.    The  voter  received  a  sort  of  wooden  slate  covered 
with  wax  on  which  the  names  of  all  the  candidates  were 
scratched.    He  made  holes  in  the  wax  opposite  those  of  his 
choice  and  dropped  his  tablet  in  the  box. 

After  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  republic,  popular  gov- 
ernment took  a  long  sleep,  and  there  was  little  use  for  a 
ballot  till  quite  modern  times.  Still,  some  of  the  most 
curiously  elaborate  ballot  systems  known  were  developed 
in  the  small  governing  bodies  of  the  middle  ages. 

5.  Election  of  a  Pope. — One  of  these  is  the  form  for 
electing  a  pope,  which  has  continued  to  our  own  time.    All 
the  cardinals  are  locked  up  together  in  a  suite  of  rooms  at 
the  Vatican,  and  forbidden  to  have  any  communication  with 
the  outside  world  till  they  have  made  a  choice.    Food  is 

Eassed  in  to  them,  but  if  the  pope  is  not  elected  within  a 
;w  days,  they  are  put  on  prison  rations  by  way  of  quicken- 
ing their  work. 

A  ballot  is  taken  every  morning,  followed  by  another,  to 
give  an  opportunity  for  changing  votes.  Each  cardinal  re- 
ceives a  printed  blank.  He  first  signs  it,  then  folds  it  over 
so  as  to  conceal  the  signature,  and  seals  it.  On  the  uncov- 
ered part  of  the  paper  he  writes  the  name  of  his  candidate. 
If  there  is  not  a  two-thirds  majority  the  ballots  are  burned, 
and  the  smoke  tells  the  waiting  crowd  outside  that  there  is 
ao  election. 


182  THE   HISTORY  OF   VOTING. 

The  same  process  is  repeated  every  evening.  When 
any  candidate  gets  the  necessary  two-thirds,  the  sealed  sig- 
natures are  opened,  to  make  sure  that  no  unauthorized 
person  has  voted.  Then  the  election  is  publicly  announced. 

6.  Election  in  Venice. — This  carefulness,  however,  is 
nothing  to  that  which  was  used  in  electing  a  doge  of  Venice. 
The  Venetian  legislators,  despairing  of  getting  an  election 
which  would  not  be  controlled  by  politicians'  intrigues, 
called  in  the  lot  as  their  helper. 

When  a  doge  was  to  be  elected,  the  great  council,  of 
between  four  and  five  hundred  members,  was  called  to- 
gether. Those  below  thirty  years  of  age  were  shut  out  and 
the* names  of  the  rest  were  written  on  slips  of  paper.  A 
small  boy  was  then  picked  up  on  the  street  and  brought  in 
to  draw  out  thirty  names. 

Out  of  these  thirty,  nine  were  chosen  to  go  on  with  the 
election.  They  were  to  choose  forty  others.  Four  of  them 
nominated  five  each,  five  of  them  four  each;  and  each  of  the 
forty  must  be  confirmed  by  a  two-thirds  of  the  nine.  Out 
of  these  forty  names  twelve  were  taken  by  lot. 

The  twelve  in  the  same  way  chose  a  new  board  of  twenty- 
five,  the  chairman  nominating  three  and  each  of  the  others 
two,  a  three-fourths  vote  being  necessary  to  elect.  Lots 
were  again  drawn  for  nine  of  the  twenty-five.  These  nine 
in  the  same  way  chose  forty-five  others,  of  whom  the  lot 
picked  out  eleven. 

These  eleven,  still  in  the  same  form,  nominated  forty-one 
to  elect  the  doge.  Each  of  these  must  be  confirmed  by  a 
majority  of  the  great  council.  Then  the  forty-one  were 
/ocked  up  together,  to  go  on  with  their  election.  While 
they  were  locked  up  each  of  them  was  furnished  with  what- 
ever he  asked  for,  regardless  of  expense.  But  the  same 
must  be  given  to  each  of  the  forty-one. 

For  instance,  there  was  once  an  elector  who  wished  to 
read  in  yEsop's  Fables.  He  got  his  book,  but  not  till  all 
Venice  had  been  ransacked  to  find  the  necessary  forty-one 
copies.  At  another  time  one  of  them  ordered  a  rosary. 
Forty-one  rosaries  made  their  appearance  in  due  form. 

This  treatment  was  expected  to  make  the  electors  so 
unanimous  that  at  least  twenty-five  of  them  would  agree  on 
a  doge.  When  this  took  place  the  rigmarole  was  over.  An 
evening  newspaper,  trying  to  follow  the  returns  in  Venice  at 
that  time,  would  have  painful  times. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  VOTING.  183 

7  The  Modern  Ballot.— Coming  back  to  the  ballot  as 
used  by  common  mortals,  and  coming  down  to  this  century, 
the  Hungarian  ballot  of  thirty  years  ago  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting.  The  voter  had  given  to  him  a  stick  from  four 
to  six  feet  long  With  this  he  went  alone  into  a  room  where 
the  ballot  boxes  were  placed,  each  bearing  the  name  and 
color  of  a  candidate.  In  one  of  these  he  must  place  his 
stick.  The  object  in  having  such  a  large  ballot  was  to  make 
sure  that  there  were  not  two  or  three  extra  ones  concealed 
in  the  citizens'  pockets.  But  this  has  now  been  replaced  by 
prosaic  paper. 

8.  Present  Ballot  of  European  Nations. — In  Greece  at 
the  present  day  the  ballot  is  a  little  lead  ball.    There  is  a 
box  for  each  candidate,  divided  into  two  compartments. 
A  ckrk  goes  from  box  to  box  with  the  voter,  carrying  a 
bowl  full  of  these  balls.    At  each  box  the  voter  takes  one, 
puts  his  hand  into  a  funnel,  out  of  sight,  and  drops  his  ball 
into  the  yes  or  no  compartment,  making  a  vote  for  or 
against  the  candidate.     If  he  wishes  to  vote  for  more  than 
one  party  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  him. 

In  Italy,  each  voter,  on  registering,  gets  a  ticket  of  ad- 
mission to  the  polling  house.  Here  a  stamped  blue  paper, 
with  a  copy  of  the  law  printed  on  the  back,  is  handed  to 
him.  On  this  paper  he  must  write  his  vote. 

The  French  ballot  system  is  much  like  the  American 
system  five  years  ago.  England  uses  the  Australian  ballot. 

9.  The  Right  of  Voting  in  the  United  States.— The  right 
to  vote  comes  from  the  state,  and  is  a  state  gift.     Natural- 
ization is  a  Federal  right  and  is  a  gift  of  the  Union,  not  of 
<<ny  one  state.     In  nearly  one-half  of  the  Union  aliens  (who 
have  declared  intentions)  vote  and  have  the  right  to  vote 
equally  with   naturalized  or  native-born   citizens.     In  the 
other  half  only  actual  citizens  may  vote.     (See  Table  of 
Qualifications  for  Voting  in  each  State  on  another  page.) 
The  Federal  naturalization  laws  apply  to  the  whole  Union 
alike,  and  provide  that  no  alien  may'be  naturalized  until 
ufter   five  years'   residence.     Even  after  five  years'  resi- 
dence and  due  naturalization  he  is  not  entitled  to  vote  unless 
the  laws  of  the  state  confer  the  privilege  upon  him,  and  he 
may  vote  in  several  states  six  months  after  landing,  if  he 
has  declared  his  intention,  under  United  States  law,  to  be- 
come a  citizen. 


184  THE  AUSTRALIAN  BALLOT. 

The  Australian  Ballot. 

In  the  consideration  of  suffrage  and  the  ballot  our  atten- 
tion is  drawn  most  naturally  to  the  act  of  voting  by  means 
of  the  ballot.  And  we  will  endeavor  to  consider  it  from  the 
practical  rather  than  from  the  historical  point  of  view. 

Originally,  as  is  well  known, the  ballot  was  a  ball,  a  shell 
or  other  symbol  by  which  the  voter  indicated  whether  he 
was  in  favor  of  or  against  a  particular  proposition.  That 
old  style  of  voting  is  still  popular  and  serviceable  in  clubs 
and  societies  for  speedy  action  on  simple  questions.  After 
the  invention  of  printing  came  the  printed  paper  ballot  in 
various  forms,  until  what  is  probably  the  most  perfect  form 
of  ballot  yet  devised  has  made  its  appearance — the  blanket 
ballot  of  the  Australian  system.  There  the  names  of  all 


Australian  Ballot. 

the  candidates  for  a  given  office  are  arranged  alphabetically 
on  a  single  ballot  and  the  voter  is  allowed  to  mark  the  name 
of  the  person  for  whom  he  votes.  By  the  use  of  the  Aus- 
tralian system  of  voting  the  danger  of  bribery  and  corrup- 
tion in  elections  has  been  overcome  to  a  considerable 
extent.  The  secrecy  enforced  in  voting  is  the  point  of 
safety.  By  that  simple  device  the  would-be  purchaser  of  a 
vote  is  deprived  of  a  means  of  absolute  certainty  that  the 
vender  or  a  vote  voted  according  to  contract.  But,  not- 
withstanding the  secrecy  incident  to  voting,  practical  poli- 
ticians assert  that  many  votes  are  still  bought  Probably 
the  instruments  now  most  conducive  to  the  purchase  and 
sale  of  votes  are  the  separate  party  ballots  and  the  paster 
ballot.  But  as  these  are  already  in  much  disfavor,  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  they  will  soon  disappear. 


REGISTRATION   LAWS.  fgg 

Requirements  Regarding  the  Regis- 
tration  of  Voters. 

The  registration  of  voters  is  required  in  the  states  of 
Alabama,  California,  Colorado,  Connecticut,  Florida,  Idaho, 
Illinois,  Louisiana,  Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Michigan, 
Minnesota,  Montana,  Mississippi,  Nevada,  New  Hampshire, 
New  Jersey,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  South 
Carolina,  Vermont,  Virginia,  and  Wyoming  and  the  terri- 
tories of  Arizona,  New  Mexico  and  Utah. 

In  Georgia  registration  is  required  in  some  counties  by 
local  law. 

In  Kentucky  registration  is  required  in  cities,  in  Kansas 
in  cities  of  the  first  and  second  class,  in  Iowa  and  Nebraska 
in  cities  of  and  over  '2,500  inhabitants,  in  North  Dakota  in 
cities  of  over  3,000  inhabitants,  in  Ohio  in  cities  of  not  less 
than  9,000  inhabitants,  in  Maine  in  all  cities  and  in  towns 
having  500  or  more  voters,  in  South  Dakota  in  cities  and 
towns  having  over  1,000  voters  and  in  counties  where  regis- 
tration has  been  adopted  by  popular  vote,  and  in  Tennessee 
in  all  counties  having  50,000  inhabitants  and  over. 

In  Missouri  it  is  required  in  cities  of  .100,000  inhabitant^ 
and  in  Wisconsin  in  cities  having  3,000  inhabitants  and  over, 
In  New  York  it  is  required  in  all  cities  and  in  all  incorpo* 
rated  villages  of  over  7,000  inhabitants.  In  Rhode  Island 
non-taxpayers  are  required  to  register  yearly  before  Decem- 
ber 31.  In  Texas  cities  of  10,000  or  over  may  require  regis- 
tration. 

The  registration  of  voters  is  not  required  in  the  state  of 
Oregon.  It  is  prohibited  in  Arkansas  and  West  Virginia 
by  constitutional  provision. 


186 


QUALIFICATIONS   FOR  VOTING  IN  EACH  STATE. 


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EDUCATION  OR  PROPERTY  QUALIFICATION  FOR  VOTING.  191 

Educational  or  Property  Qualification 
for  Voting. 

1.  Qualifications. — In    some    countries    the   electoral 
franchise,    as    the  right  to  vote  is  called,  is  still  further 
limited  to  persons  who  can  read  and  write,  or  to  persons 
possessing  a  specified  amount  of  property,  or  paying  a  cer- 
tain annual  rent  for  the  premises  they  occupy.     Property 
qualifications  originally  existed  in  a  number  of  our  states, 
but  they  have  generally  been  abolished. 

2.  Educational  Qualifications. — An  educational  quali- 
fication   is    proposed    in    some  states,  and  will  probably 
be  adopted  in  many  within  the  next  few  years.      Where 
public  or  free  schools  are  made  accessible  to  the  whole 
population  there  would  be  no  injustice  in  requiring  that 
only  those  shall  vote  who  can  both  read  and  write. 

3.  Minors. — Minors,  or  persons  under  age,  and  paupers 
are  not  allowed  to  vote  because  they  are  dependent;  and  it 
is  presumable  that  they  would  vote  under  coercion,  and  not 
according  to  their  independent  judgment.      Moreover,  a 
person  incapable  of  managing  his  private  business  ought 
not  to  have  a  voice  or  influence  in  public  affairs.      It    is 
probable    that  women  are  denied  the  vote  for  the  same 
reason — because  the  greater  part  of  them  are  in  a  depend- 
ent condition;  and  the  law  takes  no  note  of  exceptions. 

4.  General     Manhood     Suffrage. — General     manhood 
suffrage,  which  prevails  in  the  United  States,  is  required  by 
justice,  and  is  necessary  to  the  perpetuation  of  peace  in  a 
community  or  nation.    By  his  vote  each  man  has  his  in- 
fluence upon  those  affairs  which  are  common  to  all  citizens; 
if  he  is  outvoted,  he  is  still  satisfied,  because  it  was  his  hope 
to  outvote  his  opponents,  and  it  is  his  hope  to  have  the 
majority  with  him  at  another  time. 

5.  Property  Qualifications. — It  is  sometimes  urged  that 
only  those  who  possess  property  ought  to  be  allowed  to  vote 
taxes  and  appropriations  for  public  purposes.    This  propo- 
sition has  an  appearance  of  justice  ;  but,  besides  being  gen- 
erally impracticable,  it  rests  upon  a  wrong  view  of  society. 
It  supposes  a  degree  of  meanness  and  bad  spirit  in  the 
poor  and  of  intelligence  and  liberality  in  the  wealthy,  which 
we  do  not  find  in  actual  life  ;  and  it  would  facilitate  a  divi- 
sion of  men  into  classes,  the  poor  arrayed  against  the  rich, 
which,  if  it  existed,  would  make  free  government  almost,  if 
not  quite,  impossible. 

6.  Vote  Money  Out  of  the   Pockets  of  the  Rich.— If 
general  man-hood  suffrage  anywhere  leads  the  poor  to  vote 


192  EDUCATION  OR  PROPERTY  QUALIFICATION  FOR  VOTING. 

money  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  rich  wastefully  or  for  need- 
less or  corrupt  purposes,  the  reason  is  that  the  rich  have 
abdicated  their  proper  place  and  influence  in  political  soci- 
ety and  have  selfishly  given  themselves  to  mere  money- 
getting  or  a  life  of  pleasure,  by  which  they  endanger  not 
only  themselves,  but  what  is  of  greater  consequence,  the 
stability  of  the  community.  It  is  an  additional  argument  in 
favor  of  general  suffrage  if  it  compels  the  wealthy  and  in- 
telligent as  an  act  of  unavoidable  self-defense  to  exercise 
that  influence  in  political  affairs  which  justly  and  naturally 
belongs  to  them,  and  reminds  them  that  their  prosperous 
fortunes  bring  with  them  duties  and  responsibilities. 

7.  Take  Notice. — Take  notice  that  a  free  state  or  re- 
public cannot  remain  prosperous  if  the  more  fortunate  of 
its  citizens  withdraw  themselves  from  political  duties  to 
devote  their  lives  to  money-getting  or  to  pleasure.    Take 
notice,  too,  that  when  a  rich  man  complains  that  his  poorer 
neighbors — many    of    whom    he    probably  employs — vote 
against  his  interest,  you  will  find  that  he  conducts  himself 
toward  them  selfishly,  and  thus  loses  the  influence  which 
his  wealth  naturally  gives  him  if  he  rightly  uses  it. 

8.  Under  Our  System  the  States  Have  the  Exclusive 
Power. — Under  our  system  the  states  have  the  exclusive 
power  of  declaring,  each  for  itself,  which  of  the  citizens  shall 
vote;  being  prohibited  only  from  excluding  persons  on  ac- 
count of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  slavery.    They 
cannot,  however,  give  the  franchise  indiscriminately,  for  the 
federal  government  has  the  exclusive  authority  to  declare 
who  shall  be  citizens.    Thus  no  state  could  allow  Chinese* 
to  vote,  because  these  people  are  not  capable,  under  the 
laws  of  the  federal  government,  of  becoming  citizens.    But 
any  state  may  adopt  an  educational  or  property  franchise 
or  condition,  only  making  it  equally  applicable  to  all  citi- 
zens. 

*  This  is  still  a  disputed  question.  Chinamen  have  been  admitted 
to  naturalization  privileges.  Although  there  is  no  definite  law  against 
it,  yet  no  state  would  be  likely  to  attempt  to  pass  a  law  granting 
citizenship  to  this  despised  race,  knowing  that  such  a  statute  would 
be  contested  in  the  courts. 


CUMULATIVE  VOTING.  193 

The  Ballot  Reform  Movement. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  states  and  territories  which 
have  adopted  new  ballot  laws  based  more  or  less  on  the 
Australian  system: 

1888 — Kentucky  (applying  only  to  Louisville),  Massachu- 
setts. 

1889 — Connecticut,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Mis- 
souri, Montana,  Rhode  Island,  Tennessee,  Wisconsin. 

1890 — Maryland  (applying  to  Baltimore),  New  Jersey, 
New  York,  Oklahoma,  Vermont,  Washington,  Wyoming. 

1891 — Arkansas,  California,  Delaware,  Idaho,  Illinois, 
Maine,  Nebraska,  New  Hampshire,  North  Dakota,  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  South  Dakota,  Oregon,  West  Virginia,  Colo- 
rado. 

1892 — Iowa,  Maryland  (whole  state),  Mississippi. 

1893— Alabama,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Nevada,  Texas,  and 
in  Florida  for  the  city  of  Jacksonville. 

1894— Virginia.  f 

The  only  states  in  which  some  form  of  reformed  ballot- 
ing does  not  yet  exist  are:  Georgia,  Louisiana,  North  Caro- 
lina, South  Carolina. 


Cumulative  Voting. 

1.  Representation  of  Minority. — "The  majority    shall 
rule,"  is  a  principle  accepted  by  all  persons  devoted  to  free 
popular  government.    But  shall  a  minority  have  no  repre- 
sentation?    It  seems  to  be  the  dictate  of  good  sense  and 
of  justice  that  when  any  society  or  body  is  represented  in 
government,  provision  should  be  made  to  represent  its  parts 
or  divisions,  as  this  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  represen- 
tation of  the  whole.      A  representative  house  stands  in  the 
place  of  its  constituency  and  should  embody  all  the  essen- 
tial elements  of  the  constituent  mass.      But  where  the  will 
of  the  majority  is  regarded  as  if  it  were  the  whole  constitu- 
ency, the  majority  gets  more  than  its  share  of  representa- 
tive power.    Elections  on  this  plan,  in  which  the  motive  is 
to  grasp  unjust  power,  become  costly  and  corrupt.    Several 

Elans  of  minority  representation  have  been  tried  in  Eng- 
md  and  United  States  and  have  proved  satisfactory. 

2.  The  Limited  Vote. — This  plan  has  been  tried  in  cer- 


194  CUMULATIVE  VOTING. 

tain  cases  and  certain  districts  in  Pennsylvania,  New  York 
and  Illinois.  According  to  this  plan  the  voter  is  forbidden 
to  vote  for  the  whole  number  to  be  chosen,  but  is  autho- 
ized  to  give  votes  singly  to  each  of  a  less  number  or  a  sin- 
gle vote  to  one.  By  an  amendment  to  the  constitution  of 
New  York  proposed  by  the  convention  of  1867  the  court  of 
appeals  of  the  state  was  to  consist  of  a  chief  judge  and  six 
associate  judges,  each  voter  to  vote  for  the  chief  and  for 
four  only  of  the  associate  judges.  By  means  of  this  arrange- 
ment the  political  minority  of  the  state,  at  the  first  election 
under  the  amendment  secured  two  of  the  six  associate 
judges  of  the  court.  This  system  is  used  in  the  election  of 
judges  in  Cook  county,  including  Chicago,  and  in  localities 
in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  in  the  reelection  of  various 
officers. 

3.  The  Cumulative  Plan. — This  is  considered  the  better 
system.     In  the  Illinois  constitution  of  1870  we  have  it  in  an 
important  application,  exhibiting  all  its  characteristic  fea- 
tures.   The  section  referred  to  is  as  follows:     "The  house 
of  representatives  shall  consist  of  three  times  the  number 
of  the  members  of  the  senate  and  the  term  of  office  shall  be 
two  years.    Three  representatives  shall  be  elected  in  each 
senatorial  district,  at  the  general  election  in  the  year  1872, 
and  every  two  years  thereafter.      In  all  elections  of  repre- 
sentatives aforesaid  each  qualified  voter  may  cast  as  many 
votes  for  one  candidate  as  there  are  representatives  to  be 
elected,  or  may  distribute  the  same,  or  equal  parts  thereof 
among  the  candidates  as  he  shall  see  fit,  and  the  candidates 
highest  in  vote  shall  be  declared  elected."    Under  this  sys- 
tem the  voters  are  permitted  to  give  all  three  of  their  votes 
to  one  candidate  or  to  distribute  them  at  pleasure. 

4.  Both  Parties  Represented. — By  this  plan  both  of  the 
great  parties  have  a  representative  in  every  district,  forby 
concentrating  their  votes  on  one  candidate  a  minority   may 
be  reasonably  certain  of  electing  him. 

5.  Even  Division  of  House. — Since  the  adoption  of  this 
system  the  House  in  the  Illinois  legislature  is  generally 
very  evenly  divided.     The  Senate  has  been  republican  for 
years,  but  the  House  has  repeatedly  had  a  democratic 
majority,  thus  preventing  partisan  legislation. 

6.  How  Logan  was  Elected. — There  are  51  districts  in 
Illinois,  thus  making  51  senators  and  153  representatives. 
In  the  election  of  a  U.  S.  Senator  103  votes  are  necessary  to 
elect.    The  last  time  that  John  A.  Logan  was  elected  the 
united  houses  numbered  102  republicans  and  102  democrats. 
Day  after  day  the  houses  united  at  twelve  o'clock  and  the 
result  was  always  the  same.    At  last  a  republican  represen- 


SEN.  JOHN  M.  PALMER. 
Springfield,  111. 


195 


196  CUMULATIVE  VOTING. 

tative  died.  This  did  not  change  matters  for  then  voting 
ceased  until  a  representative  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy. 
Then  a  democrat  representing  a  very  strong  democratic 
district  died.  The  republicans,  presumably,  made  no  effort 
to  elect  a  man  for  "the  district  is  overwhelmingly  demo- 
cratic." This  put  the  democrats  off  their  guard.  Many 
did  not  go  to  the  polls  because  the  republicans  did 
not  vote  and  a  democrat  would  be  elected  without 
any  effort  on  their  part.  About  two  hours  before  the 
closing  of  the  polls,  the  republicans  came  in  from  all 
quarters.  It  was  found  that  they  had  secretly  arranged 
this  plan  so  as  to  catch  the  democrats.  The  democrats 
attempted  to  rally  their  forces,  but  it  was  too  late  and  the 
republicans  elected  their  man.  This  is  how  Logan  was 
elected. 

7.  A  Representative  Although  Expensive  System. — In 
1891  the  Illinois  legislature  had  101  democrats,  100  republi- 
cans and  3  populists.  For  six  weeks  the  joint  houses 
balloted  each  day  at  an  enormous  expense  to  the  state. 
The  dead  lock  was  finally  broken  by  the  populists  returning 
to  their  old  parties,  thus  electing  John  M.  Palmer,  the 
democratic  candidate. 


SHALL  WOMEN  VOTE? 


197 


'f/ 

$%$&?•  • 

MRS.  GROVER  CLEVELAND. 


Shall  Women  Vote? 

i.  The  Question  Agitated.— This  is  a  question  that  is 
demanding  the  consideration  of  the  American  people  as 
never  before.  It  is  not  a  new  question,  but  is  being  agita- 
ted everywhere  and  will  not  be  settled  until  woman  has 
equal  suffrage  with  man. 


14 


198  SHALL   WOMEN  VOTE. 

2.  Opposition. — While  the  question  of  woman's  suffrage 
is  rapidly  pushing  itself  to  the  front,  it  is  not  without  oppo- 
sition from  some  good,  true-hearted,  and  well-meaning  men. 
For  years  we  have  heard  of  organizations  that  tend  to  pro- 
mote the  cause  of  woman's  suffrage,  and  many  battles  have 
already  been  won  through  the  influence  of  these  organiza- 
tions.    It  may  seem  strange,  but  the  fears  of  some  are  so 
great  that  equal  suffrage  will  win,  that  organizations  are 
being    effected    to  oppose  the  granting  of  the  ballot  to 
women. 

3.  Unfounded  Fears. — The  knowing  ones  predict  terri- 
ble  consequences,  in   their  anxiety  to   conserve  woman's 
modesty  and  native  delicacy,  and  are  quite  certain  that 
home   sanctities  will   be  irremediably  outraged  now  that 
women  are  getting  their  political  eyes  opened.     Infants  are 
to  be  left  desolate,  or  consigned  to  the   tender  mercies   of 
their  papas,  while  the  "new  woman"  goes  gadding  round  to 
election  meetings,  and  meddling  generally  with  things  she 
cannot  possibly,  and  never  will,  understand.     But  our  very 
shrewd  fathers  and  brothers  are  not  justified  at  all  in  their 
pessimism. 

4.  Woman's  Elevation  as  Civilization  Advances. — The 
Indian  squaw  is  no  better  than  a  slave.     She  does  the  work 
while  the  Indian  whiles  away  his  time  in  idleness,  in  hunt- 
ing, or  in  smoking. 

India  and  the  countries  of  the  East  present  spectacles  of 
men  who  are  "lords  of  creation,"  and  women  who  have  no 
rights  that  men  need  respect.  But  as  the  benign  influences 
of  civilization  and  Christianity  reach  these  darkened  cor- 
ners of  the  earth,  woman  is  being  elevated  and  made  an 
equal  with  man. 

In  Europe,  the  large  standing  -armies,  where  men  are  re- 
quired to  spend  their  best  years  in  comparative  idleness, 
compel  women  to  engage  in  hard  manual  labor.  No  won- 
der that  the  foreigner,  accustomed  to  sights  like  the  cut 
on  opposite  page  is  opposed  to  woman's  suffrage. 

5.  W.  C.  T.  U.— The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  has  been  and  still  is  a  mighty  factor  in  solving  what 
some  term  the  vexed  woman  question.    The  latent  power 
of  thousands  has  been  revealed,  new  avenues  have  opened 
until  to-day  woman  is  ready  to  compete  with  man  in  almost 
an-y  calling. 

6.  The  Scripture  Argument. — Many  claim  that  woman's 
suffrage  is  contrary  to  Scripture.     Some  remind  us  that 
Paul  told  wives  to  be  subject  to  their  husbands  in   every- 
thing.   Paul  also  told  sons  to  obey  their  parents  and  ser- 
vants to  be  subject  to  their  masters.    Yet  no  one  objects  to 


199 


200  SHALL  WOMEN  VOTEf 

the  voting  of  servants  and  sons.  The  deference  and  obedi- 
ence which  the  members  of  a  household  may  owe  in  the 
household  to  the  father  of  the  family,  does  not  affect  their 
rights  and  duties  as  citizens. 

Again,  how  is  it  contrary  to  Scripture  to  let  a  woman  vote 
on  state  and  municipal  questions,  yet  in  accordance 
with  Scripture  to  let  her  vote  on  church  questions? 

7.  Neglecting   Domestic  Affairs.— Judge  Kingman,  for 
four  years  a  judge  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  of  Wyoming, 
says:  '*!  do  not  believe  that  suffrage  causes  women  to 
neglect  their  domestic  affairs.    Certainly,  such  has  not  been 
the  case  in  Wyoming,  and  I  never  heard  a  man  complain 
that  his  wife  was  less  interested  in  domestic  economy  be- 
cause she  had  the  right  to  vote,  and  took  an  interest  in 
making  the  community  respectable."    Whatever  tends  to 
make  woman  a  more  intelligent  companion  for  her  husband, 
and  a  more  broad-minded  mother  to  her  children,  is  a  dis- 
tinct benefit  to  the  home. 

8.  Civil  Rights. — It  is  as  absurb  to  deny  all  women  their 
civil  rights  because  the  cares  of  the  household  and  family 
take  up  all  the  time  of  some,  as  it  would  be  to  exclude  the 
whole  male  sex  from  Congress  because  some  men  are  sail- 
ors, or  soldiers  in  active  service,  or  merchants  whose  business 
requires  all  their  attention  and  energies. 

9.  The  Legal  Aspect.— Does  our  sense  of  natural  justice 
dictate  that  the  being  who  is  to  suffer  under  laws  shall  first 
personally  assent  to  them?  that  the  being  whose  industry 
government  is  to  burden  should  have  a  voice  in  fixing  the 
character  and  amount  of  that  burden?    Then,  while  woman 
is  admitted  to  the  gallows,  the  jail,  and  the  tax-list,  we  have 
no  right  to  debar  her  from  the  ballot-box. 

zo.  Strange  Argument. — Suppose  woman,  though  equal, 
to  differ  essentially  in  her  intellect  from  man,  is  that  any 
ground  for  disfranchising  her?  Shall  the  Fultons  say  to  the 
Raphaels,  "  Because  you  cannot  make  steam-engines,  there- 
fore you  shall  not  vote? "  Shall  the  Napoleons  or  the 
Washingtons  say  to  the  Wadsworths  or  the  Herschels, 
"  Because  you  cannot  lead  armies  and  govern  states,  there- 
fore you  shall  have  no  civil  rights? 

ii.  The  Ballot  an  Educator. — The  ballot  is  an  educator, 
and  its  benefits  can  be  seen  by  contrasting  the  descendant 
of  Jamestown  or  Plymouth,  educated  by  his  ballot,  and  the 
descendant  of  the  same  European  ancestors  who  have  grown 
up  under  a  monarchy  and  never  been  allowed  to  choose. 
There  have  always  been  men  glad  to  share  with  woman 
every  advantage.  Hence  American  women  are  as  well 
informed  as  men,  have  as  much  patriotism  and  are  just  as 
capable  of  choice. 


THE  WOMAN  WHO  DOES  NOT  CARE  TO  VOTE. 

201 


902  SHALL  WOMEN  VOTE? 

12.  Guardian  of  Her  Children. — Grant   that    woman's 
intellect  be  essentially  different,  even  inferior,  if  you  choose, 
still,  while  our  civilization  allows  her  to  hold  property  and 
to  be  the  guardian  of  her  children,  she  is  entitled  to  such 
education  and  to  such  civil  rights — voting  among  the  rest 
— as  will  enable  her  to  protect  both  her  children  and  her 
estate.    It  is  easy  to  indalge  in  dilettanti  speculation  as  to 
woman's  sphere  and  in   the  female   intellect.     But  leave 
dainty  speculation  and  come  down  to  practical  life.    Here 
is  a  young  widow;  she  has  children  and  ability,  if  you  will 
let  her  exercise  it,  to  give  her  the  best  advantage  of  educa- 
tion to  secure  them  every  chance  of  success  in  life,  or  she 
has  property  to  keep  for  them  and  no  friends  to  rely  on. 
Shall  she  leave  them  to  sink  in  the  unequal  struggles  of 
life?    Shall  she  trust  their  all  to  any  adviser  money  can 
buy  in  order  to  gratify  your  taste  and  give  countenance  to 
your  nice  theories?  or  shall  she  use  ?U  the  powers  God  has 
given  her  for  those  He  has  thrown  upon  her  protection?   II 
we  consult  common  sense  and  leave  theories  alone  there  is 
but  one  answer. 

13.  A  Source  of  Domestic  Trouble. — Let  women  vote! 
cries  one.    "Why,  wives  and  daughters  might  be   Demo- 
crats, while  their  fathers  and  husbands  were  Whigs.    It 
would  never  do.     It  would  produce  endless  quarrels."  And 
the  self-satisfied  objector  thinks  he  has  settled  the  question. 

But  if  the  principle  be  a  sound  one,  why  not  apply  it  in 
a  still  more  important  instance.  Difference  of  religion 
breeds  more  quarrels  than  difference  in  politics.  Yet  we 
allow  women  to  choose  their  own  religious  creeds,  although 
we  thereby  run  the  risk  of  wives  being  Episcopalians  while 
their  husbands  are  Methodists,  or  daughters  being  Catholics 
while  their  fathers  are  Calvinists.  Yet,  who  this  side  of 
Turkey  dare  claim  that  the  law  should  compel  women  to 
have  no  religious  creed,  or  adopt  that  of  their  male  rela- 
tives? Practically  this  freedom  in  religion  has  made  no 
difficulty;  and  probably  equal  freedom  in  politics  would 
make  as  little. 

14.  Clear  the  List  and  Let  Her  Try.— Some  reply,"It  will 
be  a  great  injury  to  feminine  delicacy  and  refinement  for 
woman  to  mingle  in  business  and  politics."  Of  such  objections 
on  this  and  kindred  subjects,  I  love  to  dispose  in  some  such 
way  as  this:    The  broadest  and  most  far-sighted  intellect  is 
utterly  unable  to  foresee  the  ultimate  consequences  of  any 
great  social  change.    Ask  yourself  on  all  such  occasions  ir 
there  be  any  element  of  right  and  wrong  in  the  question, 
any  principle  of  clear  natural  justice  that  turns  the  scale. 
If  so,  take  your  part  with  the  perfect  and  abstract  right. 


THE  WOMAN  WHO  WOULD  VOTE. 


*204          WHERE   WOMEN   HAVE   THE    RIGHT   TO   VOTE. 

and  trust  God  to  see  that  it  shall  prove  the  expedient.  The 
questions,  then,  -for  me  on  this  subject  are  these:  Has 
God  made  woman  capable — morally,  intellectually,  and 
physically— of  taking  this  part  in  human  affairs?  Then, 
what  God  made  her  able  to  do,  it  is  a  strong  argument  that 
He  intended  she  should  do. 

15.  Leave  it  to  Woman. — We  do  not  attempt  to  settle 
what  shall  be  the  profession,  education,  or  employment  of 
woman.  We  have  not  that  presumption.  What  we  ask  is 
simply  this,  what  all  other  classes  have  asked  before:  Leave 
it  to  woman  to  choose  for  herself  her  profession,  her  educa- 
tion, and  her  sphere.  We  deny  to  any  portion  of  the  species 
the  right  to  prescribe  to  any  other  portion  its  sphere,  its 
education,  or  its  rights.  We  deny  the  right  of  any  individual 
to  prescribe  to  any  other  individual  his  amount  of  educa- 
tion or  his  rights.  The  sphere  of  each  man,  of  each  woman, 
of  each  individual  is  that  sphere  which  »he  can,  with  the 
higliest  exercise  of  his  powers,  perfectly  fill.  The  highest 
act  which  the  human  being  can  do,  that  is  the  act  which 
God  designed  him  to  do. 

16.  Marching  to  the  Front. — Whether  we  are  in  favor 
of  this  movement  or  not,  argument  will  never  settle  it. 
The  freedom  of  the  press,  the  freedom  of  labor,  the 
freedom  of  the  race  in  its  lowest  classes,  was  never 
argued  to  success.  The  moment  you  can  get  women  to 
'go  out  into  the  highway  of  life  and  show  by  active 
valor  what  God  has  created  her  for,  that  moment  this 
question  is  settled  forever.  One  solid  fact  of  a  woman's 
making  her  fortune  in  trade  will  teach  the  male  sex  what 
woman's  capacity  is.  Examples  are  not  wanting  to-day. 
The  women  are  determined  to  have  it,  and  men  who  do 
Hot  agree  with  them  might  as  well  as  not  reconcile  them- 
selves to  the  inevitable.  In  three  states  women  have  uni- 
versal suffrage  already.  With  the  many  organizations 
already  existing  that  aid  them  in  their  effort,  and  a  host  of 
intelligent  broad-minded  men  to  support  their  cause,  there 
is  no  question  as  to  the  final  disposition  of  the  matter. 

Where   Women    Have  the    Right  to 
Vote. 

In  Great  Britain  women  vote  for  all  elective  officers, 
except  members  of  Parliament. 

In  France  the  women  teachers  elect  women  on  all  th  ' 
Boards  of  Education. 

In  Sweden  women  vote  for  all  elective  officers  except 
Representatives;  also, indirectly,  for  members  of  the  House 
of  Lords. 


WOMAN'S  RIGHTS. 


205 


14 


206       WHERE  WOMEN  HAVE  THB  RIGHT  TO  VOTE, 

In  NforWay  they  have  School  suffrage. 

In  Ireland  the  women  vote  for  the  harbor  boards  and 
Poor  Law  Guardians,  and  in  Belfast  for  municipal  officers. 

In  Russia  women  householders  vote  for  all  elective  offi- 
cers and  on  all  local  matters. 

In  Finland  they  vote  for  all  elective  officers. 

In  Austria-Hungary  they  vote  by  proxy  for  all  elective 
officers. 

In  Crotia  and  Dalmatia  they  have  the  privilege  of  doing 
so  in  local  elections  in  person. 

In  Italy  widows  vote  for  members  of  Parliament. 

In  the  Madras  Presidency  and  the  Bombay  Presidency 
(Hindustan),  the  women  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage  in  all 
municipalities. 

In  all  the  countries  of  Russian  Asia  they  can  do  so  wher- 
ever a  Russian  colony  settles.  The  Russians  are  colonizing 
the  whole  of  their  vast  Asian  possessions  and  carrying  with 
them  everywhere  the  "mir,"  or  self-governing  village, 
wherein  women  who  are  the  heads  of  households  are  per- 
mitted to  vote. 

Women  have  municipal  suffrage  in  Cape  Colony,  which 
rules  a  million  square  miles. 

Iceland,  in  the  North  Atlantic;  the  Isle  of  Man,  between 
England  and  Ireland,  and  Pitcairn  Island,  in  the  South 
Pacific,  have  full  women  suffrage. 

In  the  Dominion  of  Canada  women  have  municipal  suf- 
frage in  every  province,  and  also  in  the  Northwest  Terri- 


'*  Darn  My  Stockings.'      What  man  could  do  it? 


MAN'S  FEARS  REALIZED, 
Women  at  the  Polls. 

207 


208         WHERE  WOMEN  HAVE  THE  RIGHT  TO  VOTE. 

tories.  In  Ontario  they  vote  for  all  elective  officers,  except 
in  the  elections  of  members  of  Legislature  and  Parliament. 

In  New  Zealand  women  have  the  same  suffrage  rights 
as  have  men. 

In  the  United  States,  besides  the  three  states,  Wyoming, 
Utah  and  Colorado,  giving  full  women  suffrage,  the  follow- 
ing grant  school  suffrage  in  various  degrees:  Connecticut, 
Illinois,  Iowa,  Idaho,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Massachusetts, 
Michigan,  Minnesota,  Montana,  Nebraska,  New  Jersey,  New 
York,  Ohio,  Oregon,  North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Vermont, 
Washington,  and  Wisconsin. 

In  Delaware  suffrage  is  exercised  by  women  in  several 
municipalities. 

In  Kansas  they  have  equal  suffrage  with  men  at  all 
municipal  elections.  About  50,000  women  voted  in  1890. 


TALKING  POLITICS  AT  HOME. 


In  Wyoming  women  have  voted  on  the  same  terms 
with  men  since  1870.  The  convention  in  1889  to  form  a 
State  Convention  unanimously  inserted  a  provision  secur- 
ing them  full  suffrage.  This  constitution  was  ratified  by 
the  voters  at  a  special  election  by  about  three-fourths  ma- 
jority. Congress  refused  to  require  the  disfranchisement 
of  women  and  admitted  the  state  July  10, 1890. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Parties,  Rise  and  Fall,  Nominating 
Conventions. 

1.  History  Repeats  Itself. — "History  repeats  itself"  is 
an  old  proverb,  but  it  is  true  in  too  general  sense  to  be  a 
practical  guide  to  America.     No  other  nation  ever  came 
into  existence  as  we  did.     The  most  active,  adventurous, 
unselfish,  original,  and  forceful  spirits  of  the  world  came 
here,  not  to  seek  homes  only,  but  to  get  out  of  an  atmos- 
phere too   conservative  for  merit  to  grow  in.     On  their 
arrival    new    ambitions    were  awakened,  new  incentives 
quickened  their  thoughts,  and  new  fields  for  political  and 
even  religious  inquiries  were  opened  before  them.     Words 
grew  into  new  significance  never  before  applied  to  them. 

2.  Name  Pioneer. — It  would  fill  a  volume  to  describe 
the  name  pioneer  in  its  grandness,  since  the  pioneer  spirit 
took  possession  of  the  American  mind,  and  began  the  work 
of  producing  new  States,  bringing  true  merit  to  the  front, 
and  exalting  the  nation  by  growing  up  Washington,  Jeffer- 
son, Abraham  Lincoln,  and  other  great  men  from  the  politi- 
cal germ  of  a  virgin  soil  planted  by  pioneers. 

3.  Political  Parties  Are  of  Slow  Growth  in  Europe. — 
Political  parties  are  of  slow  growth  in  Europe,  and  their 
issues  limited  within  the  interests  of  a  dynasty  cemented 
together  by  religious  holds  on  the  conscience  acting  in  con- 
junction with  a  financial  grip  that  disperses  bread  to  a 
nation  of  landless  rent  payers. 

4.  The  Civil  Rights  of  Man.— While  we,  like  Europe, 
inherited  science  from  Greece,  neither  we  nor  England 
inherited  our  political  policy  from  her.     She  taught  us 
astronomy  but  not  the  laws  of  a  land  tenure  nor  the  civil 
rights  of  man.    Civil  rights  have  come  to  us  under  the 
quickening  influence  of  nature's  broad  domain,  spread  out 
before  us  on  the  plains  of  the  New  Word.     Here  was  an 
immaculate  page  on  which  to  write  the  policy  of  a  nation 
whose  children  and  youth  have  rounded  up  into  manhood's 
proportion,  not  lean  with  hunger  nor  plethoric  with  abused 
authority.  c? 

5.  Political  Parties. ^-Neither  the  Roman  nor  the  Saxon 
nor  the  Norman  invasion  of  England  produced  any  popu- 
lar political  parties.    The  people  continued  of  one  mind 
through  all  these  changes  as  much  as  they  were  under  the 
Druid  Age.    They  had  no  opinion  nor  any  knowledge  of 
the  situation  as  to  any  policy  except  the  one  foreshadowed 
by  their  rulers.    But  after  a  hiatus  of  inert  years  two  oppos- 
ing elements  came  into  collision  with  each  other,  not  on 
political  issues  but  religious — the  Cavaliers  and  the  Puri- 
tans.   These  were  the  first  popular  issues  in  England,  but 


RISE  AND  RAGE  OF   POLITICAL  ISSUES, 

a  political  issue  took  root  with  them,  arranged  under  the 
names  of  Whigs  and  Tories. 

6.  Whigs  and  Tories.— The  Tories,  advocates  of  the 
Divine  Rights  of  Kings,  and  the  Whigs,  though  loyal  to  the 
Crown,  wished  to  subject  its  authority  to  Parliament.    This 
issue  is  still  before  the  English  people,  and  though  in  a 
modified  form,  was  manifest  in  the  late  policy  of  Gladstone 
in  his  attempts  to  establish  Home  Rule  for  Ireland,  a  great 
question  not  yet  settled.     The  old  Whig  party  are  now 
called  Liberals,  but  the  Tories  have  changed  neither  their 
name  nor  principles,  being  stalwart  advocates  of  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  Crown  and  defenders  of  the  House  Lords. 
Such  was  and  is  now  the  partisanship  of  a  nation  whom  we 
are  proud  to  own  as  our  parent  state. 

During  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  as  might  be 
supposed,  the  issue  between  the  Whigs  and  Tories  was 
taken  up  by  the  American  colonies,  but  the<  Whigs  were  in 
the  majority  except  in  the  Virginia  colony. 

7.  The  "Declaratory  Act." — Moderation  is  a  rare  qual- 
ity in  nations  or  even  individuals  when  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  success,  and  England  was  no  exception  to  the  rule. 
Her  American  colonies  nad  always  been  loyal  to  her,  and 
from  appearances  at  that  time  it  seemed  manifested  that  a 
revenue  might  be  drawn  from   them  without  disturbing  the 
harmonious  relations.    Under  this  unfounded  confidence  in 
their  submissive  spirit,  the  English   Parliament  in  1763 
passed  what  was  termed  "The  Declaratory  Act  "  the  object 
of  which  was  to  make  it  legal  to  tax  the  American  Colonies. 

But  this  was  not  done  without  opposition. 

8.  The  Stamp  Act. — Not  without  a  strong  opposition  in 
the  British  Cabinet  the  Stamp  Act  was  passed  soon  after  the 
Enabling  Act,  and  the  time  of  its  taking  effect  being  set  in 
1765. 

During  this  interim  able  advocates  of  constitutional 
rights,  both  in  England  and  America,  have  laid  down 
principles  which  neither  words  could  logically  answer  nor 
can  time  obliterate  their  force.  They  are  as  fresh  now  as 
when  they  came  from  the  tongues  of  both  the  English  and 
the  American  representatives  of  constitutional  lav/  at  that 
time.  Mr.  Pitt,  in  his  opposition  to  the  Stamp  Act,  in  re- 
ferring to  the  days  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  the  suc- 
cess of  which  was  due  to  his  premiership,  called  attention 
to  certain  members  of  the  Cabinet  who,  during  that  event- 
ful period,  proposed  to  tax  the  colonies  by  means  of  a  stamp 
act,  used  the  following  language:  "Not  that  there  were 
wanting  some,  when  I  had  this  honor  to  serve  his  majesty, 
to  propose  to  me  to  burn  my  fingers  with  the  American 
Stamp  Act." 


RISE  AND  RAGE  OF  POLITICAL  ISSUES,  Ull 

9,  The  Stamp  Act  Repealed.— The  Stamp  Act  was  re- 
pealed by  Parliament  as  a  palliative  ere  tne  time  had 
elapsed  for  its  enforcement,  but  other  acts  were  passed, 
such  as  the  revival  of  the  navigation  laws,  which  had  long 
been  a  dead  letter,  but  now  to  be  actually  enforced. 

These  laws  subjected  certain  articles  of  merchandise  to 
an  excise  duty,  but  the  opposition  to  being  taxed  in  this 
way  was  so  great,  and  so  many  impediments  thrown  in  the 
way  of  executing  them,  that  the  British  Cabinet  yielded  to 
the  inevitable  rate  and  practically  abandoned  the  policy 
that  had  been  tried,  but  in  vain. 

10.  The  Article  of  Tea.— The  article  of  tea  was  the 
only  exception,  and  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  East  India 
Company  to  introduce  this  trade  into  Boston,  relying  on  suc- 
cess by  making  the  price  of  tea,  even  with  its  duties  added, 
cheaper  than  its  market  value  in  England.    On  it  arrival  in 
Boston  harbor  the  whole  town  turned  out,  and  from  tie 
thousands  who  beheld  this  subtle  attempt  to  circumvent  the 
will  of  the  Bostonians,  a  few  stalwart  Whigs  of  the  Ameri- 
can type,  disguised  themselves  in   the  garb  of"  Indians, 
boarded  the  tea  laden  vessels  and  emptied  the  politically 
couiraband  contents  into  the  sea.    Years  passed  away  be- 
fore anyone  ever  knew  who  these  men  were.    The  last  sur- 
vivor of  this  number  died  about  forty  years  ago,  and  his 
iron  framed  picture  adorns  many  a  gallery  throughout  the 
country. 

n.  First  Colonial  Congress. — As  the  Chameleon 
changes  color  according  to  its  contiguity  to  shades,  so  the 
public  conscience,  impelled  by  the  evolutions  of  English 
law,  first  demanded  redress,  next  independence,  and  next, 
to  secure  it,  demanded  a  sword,  the  last  argument  to 
which  manhood,  resorts.  The  Colonial  Congress  assembled 
in  New  York,  1765.  The  Continental  Congress  assembled 
in  Philadelphia,  1774,  at  which  latter  place  maturity  of 
thought  reached  its  limit  in  a  declaration  of  independence, 
July  4th,  1776.  This  marvelous  demand,  without  a  parallel 
in  history,  struck  not -only  England,  but  Europe  and  the 
world,  with  astonishment. 

12.  Articles  of  Confederation. — Two  years  later,  July 
4, 1778,  articles  of  confederation  and  perpetual  union  were 
signed.  American  Whigs  were  now  called  rebels  in  Eng- 
land, while  American  Tories  still  retained  the  name  in  both 
countries.  Most  of  them  left  America  for  their  political 
home,  and  here  it  ought  not  to  be  omitted  that  these 
royalists  were  composed  of  a  highly  respectable  element  in 
society. 


212  RISE   AND   RAGE   OF   POLITICAL   ISSUES. 

13.  The  Sword  Was  Drawn. — Social  ties  were  severed, 
lovers  were  parted  never  to  meet  again,  and  even  kindred 
ties  were  absolved;  for  the  sword  was  drawn,  not  to  be  re- 
turned to  its  scabbard  till  Europe  was  deluged  in  war,  and 
till  a  new  nation  was  born,  and  a  new  plan  to  be  unfolded 
as  the  popular  heart  willed  it. 

From  that  time  to  the  present  this  nation  has  been 
mounting  from  strength  to  strength,  and  its  inventive  gen- 
ius, the  admiration  of  the  world,  has  furnished  many  a 
model  to  be  copied  by  this  world,  or  be  left  behind  in  the 
progress  of  grandeur.  It  is  not  always  strange  that  a 
nation  of  thinkers  should  give  birth  to  a  variety  of  political 
parties,  each  holding  themselves  to  be  virtues  of  inde- 
pendence. 

14.  Declaration  of  Independence. — Seventy  represen- 
tatives of  the  original  proposers  of  purposes  of  this  nation 
signed    the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and    in   their 
Declaration  none  of  the  principles  evolved  in  the  govern- 
ments of  Europe  were  borrowed,  but  the  principles  of 
popular    thought   in  America  were  summarized  into  an 
epitome  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  none  of  which  were  more 
original  with  him  than  with  his  peers  at  that  time,  but  his 
forcible  style  of  formulating  them  was  the  admiration  of 
America  and  the  astonishment  of  Europe. 

15.  Peace    Commissioners. — During  the    war    which 
followed  the  first   substantial  success    that  crowned  the 
victories  of  Bennington  and  Saratoga,  by  the  latter  of  which 
General   Burgoyne's  armies  sent    Peace    Commissioners 
to  America,  and  to  use  a  metaphor,  gave  the  Continental 
Congress  a  blank  sheet  on  which  to  write  the  terms  on 
which  peace  could  be  made,  promising  to  accept  any- 
thing short  of  absolute    independence.     This  offer   was 
declined.    The  next  year  the  British  renewed  the  offer 
during  the  darkest  hours  of  the  war,  but  Congress  was  as 
firm  as  ever  in  its  original  purpose,  whereupon  the  Eng- 
lish Commissioners  with  an  assurance  that  never  had  a 
parallel  in  history,  asked  of  the  cabinet  the  privilege  to 
circulate  documents  among  the  people,   embodying  the 
substance  of  this  offer.     It  was  refused,  nor  was  it  compli- 
mentary to  the  cabinet  to  suppose  it  possible  that  it  would 
grant  any  overtures  that  might  create  in  the  public  mind, 
especially  one  at  variance  with  the  unanimous  will  of  this 
firm  body  of  men. 

16.  France. — The  best  apology  for  this  puerile  piece  of 
diplomacy  on  the  part  of  our  British  fathers  is  that  drown- 
ing men  catch  at  straws.    The  first  fruitage  of  the  capture 
of  Burgoyne's  army  was  our  treaty  with  France,  whereby 
that  power  made  a  solemn  pledge  not  to  make  peace  with 


RISE  AND   RAGE   OF   POLITICAL   ISSUES.  213 

Great  Britain  until  our  independence  was  secured.  Later  in 
the  war  Cornwallis  and  his  army  were  taken  prisoners  at 
Yorktown  by  a  timely  union  of  the  forces  under  Washing- 
ton himself  and  our  generous  ally  La  Fayette.  This  victory 
in  effect  won  our  cause;  but  the  treaty  by  which  peace  was 
to  be  secured  was  long  delayed  on  account  of  the  compli- 
cated conditions  of  it,  not  only  pertaining  to  France  but 
also  to  Spain.  The  latter  power  had  been  reluctantly 
drawn  into  a  war  with  England  by  events  not  within  the 
scope  of  these  pages.  She  was  no  friend  to  America,  and  it 
was  political  torture  for  her  to  fight  the  British  when  every 
gun  she  fired  was  indirectly  assisting  her  rival  on  American 
soil  for  territory,  as  she  then  owned  Florida  and  the  entire 
territory  west  of  the  Mississippi,  together  with  New  Orleans 
and  its  surroundings  east  of  that  stream. 

17.  Other  Impediments.— Besides  these,  other  impedi- 
ments acted  as  friction  to  delay  making  a  peace  treatv 
which  were  the  title  and  character  by  which  the  American 
Commissioners  were  to  be  received  at  the  negotiations  for 
peace  which  were  to  be  held  at  Paris.    What  were  they? 
Were  they  the  Plenipotentiaries  of  a  nation,  or  commis- 
sioners from  American  colonies  to  treat  for  peace?     If  the 
former,  the  main  question  was  concluded  in  advance,  and 
there  was  little  to  treat  on  left.     If  the  latter,  they  went  into 
the  convention  on  humble  terms  which  were  degrading  to 
the  nation  they  represented. 

18.  The    Illustrious   Men. — John    Adams,     John    Jay, 
Benjamin  Franklin,  and  Henry  Lawrence  were  the  illus- 
trious men  who  held  the  honor  of  America  in  their  hands, 
and  they  were  equal  to  the  occasion.    After  long  delay  the 
king  consented  to  treat  with  the  American  Commissioners 
as  representatives  of  a  nation  defacto.    The  question  of 
boundary  was  not  the  only  difficult  one  to  settle,  and  Spain 
was  the  disturbing  element  in  this  issue.     Her  king  was  of 
Bourbon  blood,  like  the  French  king,  and  by  virtue  of  the 
family  contract  between  these  thrones  they  were  to  guar- 
antee to  each  other  the  integrity  of  the  respective  territory 
of  each,  and,  although  the  demand  of  the  American  Com- 
missioners was  the  Mississippi,  and  its  western  limits  in- 
volved no  territorial  loss  to  Spain,  yet  it  gave  the  new 
nation  a  great  start  at  the  onset  over  herself  as  to  territory, 
and  Spain  used  her  utmost  influence  to  make  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  the  line,  leaving  the  territory  intervening  therein 
and  the  Mississippi  open  to  the  progress  of  future  condi- 
tion. 


214  RISE   AND   RAGE   OF   POLITICAL   ISSUES. 

19.  The  American  Commissioners. — But  the  American 
Commissioner^  were  firm  in  their  demand  of  the  Mississippi 
as  the  western  line,  and  the  treaty,  after  much  delay,  was 
signed  to  this  effect  by  Messrs.  Adams,  Franklin  and  Jay 
on  the  part  of  America,  Mr.  Lawrence  being  not  present, 
and  by  David  Hartley  on  the  part  of  England. 

20.  Treaty  of  Peace. — Thus  cldsed  the  American  Rev- 
olution   at    Paris,   September  3,  1783,  bringing  a  nation 
into  the  great  family  or  nations  with  but  one  political  party, 
but  whose  various  interests  were  destined  to  develop  others 
in  the  future. 

There  was  no  one  living  at  this  date  who  fully  under- 
stood or  conceived  the  magnitude  of  the  victory  won  by 
war  and  secured  by  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  During  the 
war,  few  if  any  one  tried  to  forecast  the  future.  The  con- 
federacy of  the  colonies  really  had  terminated  its  union 
when  the  war  ceased.  It  was  not  fitted  to  the  emergencies 
of  a  nation,  as  was  soon  proven.  It  could  not  deal  with 
foreign  questions  nor  had  the  government  made  any  pro- 
posed plans  to  meet  any  such  emergency  and  did  not  till  a 
necessity  for  it  existed. 

21.  Centralized  Power. — The  bitter  expressions  of  the 
colonists  brought  to  light  when  the  strong  arm  of  the  crown 
tried  to  abridge  their  constitutional  rights  as  English  sub- 
jects, had  made  each  of  the  confederated  states  jealous  of 
centralized  power  lest  it  might  set  bounds  to  the  authority 
of  the  state  subversive  of  freedom,  and  under  this  convic- 
tion  private  citizens  were  reluctant  to  recognize  any  cen- 
tralized power  above  the  state. 

22.  During  a  session  of  the  Continental  Congress  held 
March  3, 1786,  initial  steps  were  taken  to  formulate  a  con- 
stitution. 

During  the  deliberation  of  this  Congress  arguments  were 
made  against  the  proposed  measures  on  the  ground  that 
they  would  terminate  in  a  constitutional  monarchy.  But 
such  suspicions  were  quieted  by  the  logic  of  Hamilton, 
Adams  and  Jay,  who  while  deserving  the  chief  credit  for 
drafting  our  Constitution  were  ably  assisted  by  many  other 
of  our  model  statesmen  of  that  prolific  age  in  the  growth  of 
eminent  Americans. 

23.  Sacred  to  the  Rights  of  Man. — Who  but  the  pro- 
foundest  thinkers  the  world  ever  produced  could  make  so 
perfect  a  framework  wherewith  to  build  a  nation?  Where 
in  English  literature  was  ever  the  exigencies  of  a  nation  so 
amply  provided  for?  What  other  monument  was  ever  so 
sacred  to  the  rights  of  man?  The  following  account  of  the 
manner  of  this  guide  to  national  grandeur  is  copied  from 
"The  Rights  of  Man,"  by  Thomas  Paine: 


RISE  AND  RAGE  OF   POLITICAL  ISSUES,  215 

"  The  powers  vested  in  the  governments  of  the  several 
states,  by  the  state  constitutions,  were  found,  upon  experi- 
ence, to  be  too  great,  and  those  vested  in  the  federal  gov- 
ernment, by  the  act  of  federation,  too  little.  The  defect 
was  not  in  the  principle,  but  in  the  distribution  of  power. 

24.  A    Continental  Conference. — "  Numerous  publica- 
tions   in    pamphlets    and  newspapers  appeared    on    the 
propriety    and  necessity  of  newly  modeling  the   Federal 
government.    After  some  time  of  public  discussion,  carried 
on  through  the  channel  of  the  press  and  in  conversations, 
the  state  of  Virginia,  experiencing  some  inconvenience  with 
respect  to  commerce,  proposed  holding  a  continental  con- 
ference, in  consequence  of  which  a  deputation  from  five  or 
six  of  the  state  assemblies  met  at  Annapolis,  in  Maryland,  in 
1786.    This    meeting,   not    conceiving    itself    sufficiently 
authorized  to  go  into  the  business  of  a  reform,  did  not  more 
than  state  their  general  opinions  of  the  propriety  of  the 
measures  and  recommend  that  a  convention  of  all  the  states 
should  be  held  the  following  year. 

"  This  convention  met  at  Philadelphia  in  May,  1787,  of 
which  General  Washington  was  elected  president.  He  was 
not  at  that  time  connected  with  any  of  the  state  governments 
or  with  Congress.  He  delivered  up  his  commission  when 
the  war  ended,  and  since  then  had  lived  a  private  citizen. 

25.  A  Federal  Constitution. —  "The  convention  went 
deeply  into  all  the  subjects,  and  having  after  a  variety  of 
debate  and  investigation   agreed  among  themselves  upon 
the  several  parts  of  a  federal  Constitution,  the  next  question 
was  the  manner  of  giving  it  authority  and  practice. 

"They  first  directed  that  the  proposed  Constitution 
should  be  published.  Second,  that  each  state  should  elect 
a  convention  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  taking  it  into 
consideration  and  of  ratifying  or  rejecting  it;  and  that  as 
soon  as  the  approbation  and  ratification  of  any  nine  states 
should  be  given,  those  states  should  proceed  to  the  election 
of  their  proportion  of  members  of  the  new  federal  govern- 
ment, and  that  the  operation  of  it  should  then  begin,  and 
the  former  federal  government  cease. 

26.  Ratified  the  Constitution. — "The  several  states  pro- 
ceeded accordingly  to  elect  their  conventions;  some  of  those 
conventions    ratified    the    Constitution    by    a    very    large 
majority,  and  in  two  or  three  unanimously.    In  others  there 
was  much  debate  and  division  of  opinion.    In  the  Massa- 
chusetts convention,  which  met  at  Boston,  the  majority  was 
not  above  nineteen  or  twenty,  in  about  three  hundred  mem- 
bers; but  such  is  the  nature  of  representative  government, 
that  it  quietly  decides  all  matters  by  majoritv.    ,'fter  the 


216  RISE    AND    RAGE    OF    POLITICAL    ISSUES. 


debate  in  the  Massachusetts  convention  was  closed,  and 
the  vote  taken,  the  objecting  members  arose  and  declared 
'that  though  they  had  argued  and  voted  against  it  because 
certain  parties  appeared  to  them  in  a  different  light  to  what 
they  did  to  other  members,  yet,  as  the  vote  had  been 
decided  in  favor  of  the  Constitution  as  proposed,  they 
should  give  it  the  same  practical  support  as  if  they  had 
voted  for  it.' 

"As  soon  as  the  nine  states  had  concurred  and  the 
rest  followed  in  the  order  their  conventions  were  elected, 
the  old  fabric  of  the  federal  government  was  taken  down 
and  a  new  one  erected." 

27.  The  Federalists  and  the  Anti-Federalists.— While 
the  convention  was  in  session,  the  debates  on  such  articles 
in  it  as  might  be  prejudicial  to  the  broadest  principles 
of  freedom,  or  to  the  individual  rights,  called  forth  nice 
distinctions  between  the  rights  of  the  masses  and  those 
of  the  high  bred  man  of  mind  and  of  culture  born  to  rule. 
These  conditions,  drawn  from  nature  and  education  com- 
bined, cannot  fail  to  have  a  controlling  influence  in  juris- 
prudence; but  constitutionally  they^nust  be  subject  to  the 
same  laws  as  govern  other  conditions.    The  old  federal 
fathers  of  the  nation  were  the  brainiest  men  in  the  world; 
but  the  commoner  element  must  have  their  voice  in  this 
matter,  and  the  debates  drew  forth,  and  anticipated  the 
wants  of  all  classes;  and,  in  doing  this,  erected  two  political 
parties,  the  Federalists  and  Anti-Federalists  being  the  first 
political  parties  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.   The 
anti- Federalists  assumed  the  name  Republicans  about  1791. 

28.  First  President.— The  first  Wednesday  in  January, 
1789,  was  appointed  for  the  choice  of  electors  for  President 
and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  first 
Wednesday  in  the  following  February  for  the  voting  of 
the  electors.     They  were  69  in  number,  all  of  whom  voted 
for  Washington  for  President.    John  Adams  had  34  votes 
for  Vice-President,  and  35  were  cast  for  other  candidates. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES  IN  AMERICA, 


THE  HON.  MR.  RUSSELL,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 

The    Origin    of    Political    Parties    in 
America. 

1.  The  Bitterness  of  Party  Spirit.— The  bitterness  of 
party  spirit  is  never  to  be  excused  or  defended,  much  less 
commended,  yet  the  existence  of  parties  seems  unavoidable 
in  the  conditions  of  our  people,  and  should  not  be  regarded 
as  necessarily  an  evil.    They  promote  watchfulness  on  the 
part  of  the  people,  and  render  it  next  to  impossible  for  those 
in  power  to  betray  their  trust  or  to  cherish  abuses  that  im- 
peril the  nation. 

2.  The  Political  Parties  of  the  Colonial  Period  were 
transplants  from  the  mother  country,  with  issues  allied  to 
those  which  represented  the  divisions  of  public  sentiment 
on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.    The  Tory  was  the  loyalist 
party  in  England,  which  supported  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Crown,  and  defended  its  exactions  and  tyrannies,  often  to 
the  hazard  of  the  liberties  and  prosperity  of  the  people. 

3.  The  Liberalists  of  that  day,  both  in  England  and  in 
the  colonies,  were  known  as  Whigs.    They  stood  for  t>' 
rights    of    the    people,  under    Constitutional    governmeu., 
against  the  aggressions  of  the  Crown.     In  the  estimation  of 
the  Tory,  the  people  exist  for  the  government;  but  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Whig,  the  government  exists  for  the  people. 

4.  The  Revolution. — During  the  period  of  the  Revolu- 
tion the  words  Tory  and  Whig  fitly  expressed    the  senti- 
ments of.  the  parties  in  their  relation  to  the  mighty  struggle, 


i'HE  OlilOlN  6P  fcOLtf  ICAL  f  AfttllS  IN  AMERICA,    21$ 

out,  after  independence,  the  word  "  Tory  "  became  too  ob- 
noxious to  loyal  Americans  ever  to  be  used  in  this  country 
as  the  name  of  a  political  party.  The  word  "  Whig  "  never 
incurred  odium  of  any  sort,  but  it  lost  much  of  its  signifi- 
cance in  the  new  conditions  which  followed  the  war,  par- 
ticularly under  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 

5.  The    Federalist    Party. — Those    who   favored   the 
making  of  a  constitution  and  secured  its  adoption,  believing 
in  a  strong  Federal  government,  were  designated  Federal- 
ists, while  those  who  opposed  it  in  the  interest  of  larger  pow- 
ers for  the  states  were  called  Republicans.    These  were  the 
parties  under  the  Constitution.    The  Federalists  elected  the 
first  President,  George  Washington,  and  set  the  new  gov- 
ernment   in    operation.    They    interpreted    the  grants  of 
power  made  in  the  Constitution  quite  liberally,  assuming 
that  the  purpose  of  that  instrument  was  to  constitute  the 
United  States  an  independent  sovereignty. 

6.  The  Opposition  Grew. — The  Federalist  party,  after 
incorporating  its  essential  principles  in  the  government,  and 
electing  Washington  twice  and  John  Adams  once,  would 
seem  to  have  had  prestige  and  power  enough  to  maintain 
itself  and  conquer  opposition;  but  the  opposition  grew  in 
intensity  and  virulence,  and  the  party  in  power  fell  under 
odium  through  the  unwise  action  of  some  of  its  adherents 
who,  in  its  name,  sought  for  enlargements  of  power  not  in 
the  Constitution  and  never  contemplated  by  the  real  found- 
ers of  the  government. 

7.  Democratic-Republican   Party. — In  the    meantime 
the  opposition,  then  known  as  the  Democratic-Republican 
party,  had  acquiesced  in  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
accepted  its  provisions,  increased  in  public  favor  and  gath- 
ered strength  to  gam  control  of  the  government  by  the 
election  of  Thomas  Jefferson  to  the  presidency.    By  this 
time  the  original  issues  between  the  parties  had  passed 
away,  and  new  questions  had  arisen,  so  that  "Federalist" 
and  "Republican'  had  come  to  mean  something  widely  dif- 
ferent from  the  ideas  which  were  attached  to  them  in  the 
earlier  history  of  the  parties. 

8.  The  Party  of  Jefferson  and  Madison.— The  party  of 
Jefferson  and  Madison,  the  first  competitor  of  .the  party 
which    elected    Washington    and     Adams,    became    the 

?arty  of  the  government  upon  the  accession  of  Mr. 
efferson,  and,  in  the  broadest  sense,  the  National  party, 
the  events  preceding  and  causing  the  war  of  1812 
contributing  largely  to  the  expansion  of  its  principles, 
as  well  as  to  its  triumph,  in  the  complete  overthrow  of  the 
Federalist  party. 


220     THE  ORIGIN  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES  IN  AMERICA. 

9.  Re-Elected  Without  Opposition. — The  people  who 

supported  Jefferson  and  Madison  approved  trie  enlarge- 
ment of  their  ideas,  carried  the  war  to  a  successful  issue, 
and  elected  Mr.  Monroe  to  the  presidency,  leaving  the 
remnant  of  the  Federalist  party  scattered  and  powerless. 
Under  Monroe's  first  administration  the  old  issues  became 
obsolete,  and  party  organizations  ceased  to  exist.  He  was 
re-elected  substantially  without  opposition.  In  the  fullest 
sense  he  was  the  President  of  the  people.  When  his  sec- 
ond term  expired  there  were  no  organized  parties  to  put 
candidates  in  the  field,  after  the  modern  methods.  The 
old  Federalist  party  was  dead;  the  old  Republican  party 
had  outgrown  itself  as  a  party,  had  expanded  its  creed,  pos- 
sessed the  government  and  lost  identity  as  a  party  in  suc- 
cessful administration.  No  existing  political  party  can 
possibly  antedate  this  epoch  in  our  national  history — an 
epoch  distinguished  in  our  political  annals  as  the  era  of 
peace  and  good-will. 

10.  The  Democratic  Party. — Such  was  the  creed  of  the 
Democratic  party  when  it  first  became  a  party.    That 
creed,  like  all  creeds,  was  a  growth.    It  never  sprang  ma- 
tured from  any  man's  brain.    Its  germinal  ideas  accorded 
with  the  principles  which  guided  Mr.  Jefferson's  adminis- 
tration after  his  practical  statesmanship  had  lifted  him 
above  the  vagaries  of  his  earlier  years,  and  made  his  con- 
duct of  the  government  wise  and  vigorous.    The  real  seed- 
thoughts  of  the  party,  however,  were  found  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  Andrew  Jackson,  or  rather  in  the  discussions  ex- 
cited by  his  acts  while  in  office.    The  doctrines  promulgated 
by  his  f  ollowerSjWhich  were  afterward  formulated  into  a  creed 
for  the  party,  were  not  made  prominent  in  connection  with 
pending  questions,  so  as  to  be  effective  in  his  first  election. 

11.  No  Political  Organizations. — When  Mr.  Monroe's 
successor  was  to  be  chosen  there  were  no  political  organiza- 
tions to  nominate  candidates.     In  this  condition  of  affairs 
what  might  have  been  anticipated  came  to  pass.    Several 
statesmen  of  high  character  were  brought  forward  by  their 
personal  friends  as  worthy  to  receive  the  electoral  votes  of 
the  states.    Adams,  Jackson,  Clay,  Crawford  and  White 
became  candidates,  although  the  last  two  were  scarcely 
recognized  as  such  outside  of  their  own  states.    The  first 
three  were  the  real  competitors.    They  were  all  friends  of 
the  administration;  their  following  was  not  partisan,  but 
personal.     The   electoral    votes  were  so  divided  that  no 
choice  was  made  and  the  election  was  carried   into  the 
House  of  Representatives.     Jackson  had  the  largest  num- 
ber of  votes,  but  not  enough  to  elect  him. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES  IN  AMERICA.     22) 

12.  John  Quincy  Adams. — The  friends  of  Adams  and 
Clay  united  their  forces  and  gave  the  election  to  Adams, 
and  Adams  made  Clay  his  secretary  of  state.    This  trans- 
action had  the  appearance  of  barter  and  gave  great  offense 
to  the  followers  of  Jackson,  who  raised  the  cry  of  bargain 
and  sale,  and  lost  no  time  in  determining  to  oppose  the 
administration  thus  inaugurated.    They  rallied  to  the  sup- 
port of  their  chief,  determined  to  elect  him  at  the  end  of 
Four  years,  a  purpose  they  pursued  with  tireless  energy  till 
it  was  accomplished.    This  organized  opposition  to  John 
Quincy  Adams,  in   the  interest  of  Andrew  Jackson,  was 
known  as  the  Jackson  party.    The  supporters  of  Adams 
were  known  as  the  Administration  party. 

13.  The  Whig  Party.— It  was  inevitable  that  political 
parties  so  distinctly  marked  and  openly  struggling  for  suc- 
cess, should  have  distinguishing  names.    These  were  soon 
found.    The  Jackson  party  took  the  name  Democrat,  and 
became  the  Democratic  party.    As  an  organization  it  re- 
mains till  this  day.    The  other  party  took  to    itself    the 
honored  name  of  the  party  of  the  Revolutionary  patriots,  and 
became  the  Whig  party.    Adams  was  its  candidate  for  re- 
election, but  failed;  Jackson  was  elected.    He  was  the  first 
Democratic  President,  using  the  term  in  its  modern  sense. 

14.  The  Fate  of  the  Whig  Party.— The  fate    of    the 
Whig  party,  coming  as  it  did  through  complications  with 
the  slavery  question,  affords  lessons  of    profound    signifi- 
cance.   As  a  party  it  comprised  a  large  share  of  the  intelli- 
gence and  talent  of  the  country.     Its  principles  commanded 
the  approval  of  the  most  gifted  of  the  nation.     Its  methods 
were  open   and  honorable;   and,  so  far  as  it  affected  the 
legislation  of  the  countiy,  its  influence  was  beneficial.    A 
more  patriotic  party  never  sought  the  favor  of  the  Amer- 
ican people;  yet  its  success  was  limited,  as  it  never  enjoyed 
the  privilege  of  an  unbroken  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment.   It  elected  two  Presidents,  and  both  died  in  office. 
Its  first  President,  General  Harrison,  died  in  a  month  after 
his  inauguration,  before  his  policy  could  be  developed,  and 
the  Vice-President,  on  whom  the  duties  of  the  presidency  de- 
volved, proved  untrue  to  the  party  which  elected  him,  and 
defeated  the  measures  on  which  the  hearts  of  the  people 
were  set. 

15.  The  Abolition  Party.— The  downfall  of  the  Whig 
party  dates  from  its  defeat  in  1852.    The  influence  of  the 
"  Third  party  "  was  something,  but  not  a  powerful  factor  in 
its  overthrow.     The  assumption  that  it  was  a  chief  agency 
is  not  supported  by  the  facts.      In  1840  and  in  1844  the 
abolition  party  cast  an  inconsiderable  vote,  which  did  not 

15 


222       THE  ORIGIN  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES  IN  AMERICA. 

amount  to  a  disturbing  element  in  the  elections  of  those 
years.  In  1848 the  "Free-Soil"  party  was  in  the  field  with  a 
broader  platform  and  with  a  greater  element  of  strength. 

16.  Large  Free-Soil  Vote. — The  nomination  of  Gen- 
eral Taylor  by  the  Whigs  alienated  the  Quakers  and  some 
other  anti-slavery  people  from  the  Whig  party;  while  the 
nomination  of  Lewis  Cass    by  the    Democrats    offended 
many  in  that  party,  particularly  in  the  state  of  New  York, 
and  prepared  the  way  for  the  large   Free-Soil  vote  cast 
that  year — the  largest  ever  cast.    Martin  Van  Buren  bolted 
the  nomination  of  Cass,  and  he  and  his  special  adherents 
expressed  sympathy  with  Free-Soilism,  probably  as  much 
to  defeat  his  old  competitor,  General  Cass,  as  to  advance 
the  cause  of  freedom.    He  was  nominated  by  the  Free-Soil 
party  and  accepted.     His  candidacy  drew  from  the  Demo- 
crats about  as  many  votes  as  were  drawn  from  the  Whigs, 
and  aided  not  in  the  destruction  of  the  Whig  party,  but  in 
the  election  of  General  Taylor.    The  Free-Soil  vote  of  1852 
was  much  less  than  in  1848. 

17.  The  Know-Nothing  Party. — Then  came  the  Know- 
Nothing  furor,  which  swept  the  country  like  a  tornado,  dis- 
rupting party  lines  as  nothing  had  ever  done  before.  It  was 
not  a  third  party,  but  a  movement  of  extraordinary  charac- 
ter, forming  an  anomalous  chapter  in  the  history  of  Ameri- 
can politics.     The  Whig  party  .was  already  out  of  the  field, 
and  never  again  confronted  its  old  competitor. 

18.  The  ^Republican  Party.-— The    Democratic    party, 
though  badly  shattered,  being  in  power,  managed  to  survive 
as  a  party.     Out  of  the  debris  came  the  Republican  party, 
organized  and  drilled,  ready  for  the  fray,  in  1856.     Into  it 
came  the  anti-slavery  elements  of  all  the  old  parties,  includ- 
ing all  the  voters  of  the  Free-Soil  party,  who  were  in  it  from 
principle.    Pro-slavery  Whigs  went  over  to  the  Democrats. 
Thus  after  the  culmination  of  the  slave  power,  and  after  the 
sifting  of  the  Know-Nothing  storm,  the  lines  of  the  parties 
were  finally  drawn  upon  the  issues  thrust  upon  the  country 
by  the  aggressions  of  slavery.     The  practical  question  de- 
manding settlement  was  the  extension   of  slavery  into  the 
territories.     The  Republican  party  squarely  accepted  this 
issue ;  but,  anti-slavery  as  it  was,  it  proposed  no  interference 
with  the  institution  in  the  states  where  it  existed. 

19.  Lincoln  and  Johnson. — Looking  backward  from  the 
present,  the  discovery  that  the  Republican  party  has  made 
mistakes  is  no  evidence  of  superior  discernment.      It  did 
not  develop  its  own  scheme  of  reconstruction.     The  death 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  followed  by  embarrassments  through 
the  defection  of  Andrew  Johnson,  that  crippled  its  opera- 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES  IN  AMERICA.     223 

tioni.  and  forced  contentment  with  half-way  measures. 
With  his  unquestioned  loyalty  to  the  Union,  Mr.  Johnson 
was  at  heart  a  Democrat,  and  in  the  crisis  of  reconstruction 
his  Democratic  instincts  asserted  themselves,  throwing  into 
confusion  the  counsels  of  those  who  had  given  him  power. 
In  debate  he  was  the  peer  of  the  strongest  men  of  his  times, 
and.having  the  courage  of  his  convictions  his  exercise  of 
the  veto  power  was  prompt  and  vigorous.  With  less  of 
kindliness  toward  the  south  than  Mr.  Lincoln  possessed, 
his  sense  of  obligation  to  the  whole  country  and  to  the 
future  was  dull  in  comparison  with  that  which  character- 
ized his  predecessor,  the  illustrious  martyr.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances it  was  impossible  for  the  party  to  carry  into 
effect  any  measure  that  encountered  his  prejudices.  Com- 
promise in  reconstruction  was  therefore  inevitable. 

20.  The  Stamp  of  its  Power.— Nevertheless  the  Re- 
publican party  has  been  a  success  and  as  such  it  will  pass 
into  history  whether  it  shall  ever  elect  another  President  or 
not.     Its  fundamental  principles  inherited  from  the  Whig 
party,  and  those  developed  in  the  fires  of  its  conflicts,  have 
been  wrought  into  the  fabric  of  the  government,  so  that  no 
party  will  attempt  their  elimination.    The  stamp  of  its  power 
is  in  the  Constitution,  in  the  established  rights  of  suffrage, 
in  the  national  currency,  and  in  everything  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  national  honor  at  home  and  abroad. 

21.  Other  Parties. — There  have    been    other  parties 
which  have  figured  more  or  less  in  the  political  field.    The 
Anti-Masonic  party  has  had  an  ephemeral  existence/but 
never  reached  the  dignity  of  a  national  party,  and  exerted 
only  an  incidental  influence  in  public  affairs.     The  same  is 
true  of  the  Abolition  and  Free-Soil  parties,  previously  named. 
There  was  an  American  party,  the  product  of  Know-Noth- 
ingism,  which  lingered  for  a  while  after  the  storm,  and  con- 
tributed to  the  confusion  that  reigned  in  political  circles 
during  the  interval  between  the  going  down  of  the  Whig 
party  and  the  development  of  the  Republican  party.   There 
was  a  "Union"  party  in  the  field  prior  to  the  war,  known  as 
the  Bell-Everett  party,  from  the  names  of  the  candidates; 
but  it  was  only  a  temporary  expedient,  a  sort  of  post-mortem 
wriggle  of  defunct  Whigism,  where  the  Republican  move- 
ment was  unable  to  obtain  recognition. 

22.  The  Prohibition  Party. — The  Prohibition  party  came 
into  the  field  at  a  later  date,  and  exhibited  greater  persistency 
than  some  of  the  other  "third  parties,"   having  under  it  a 
noble  sentiment,  and  in  it  men  of  moral  worth  and  philan- 
thropic aim;  but  even  this  party  never  had  the  prospect  of 
reaching  the  goal  of  its  ambition,  and  never  made  any  direct 
contribution  toward  the  destruction  of  political  evils. 


224  PARTY   GOVERNMENT. 

The  Prohibition  party,  however,  has  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  shown  a  tenacity  and  an  unswerving 
hold  to  principle  that  will,  sooner  or  later,  give  it  prestige 
among  the  great  parties,  or  incorporate  its  principles  in 
sorne  other  great  party,  not  yet  formed. 

23.  People's  Party. — The  last  experiment  in  this  line, 
the  so-called  People's  party,  has  puzzled  and  bewildered 
many  astute  manipulators  or  public  sentiment,  yet  inspiring 
a  high  degree  of  hopefulness  with  regard  to  beneficial  results 

The  practical  lesson  deducible  from  this  summary  of 
political  history  is  that  there  is  no  foundation  for  a  political 
party  to  stand  upon  that  is  either  broad  enough  or  strong 
enough  to  give  the  slightest  hope  of  achieving  success  in 
controlling  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  except  some  principle 
of  construing  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  is 
sufficiently  far-reaching  to  touch  every  department  of  the 
government  and  to  determine  the  character  and  genius  of 
our  institutions. 


Party  Government. 

,1.  The  Purchased  Vote. — Elections  go  by  extremes; 
first  one  way  and  then  the  other.  It  is  thus  seen  that  a  large 
proportion  of  the  voting  population  is  easily  changed.  In 
every  national  election  thousands  and  millions  of  dollars  are 
expended  directly  and  indirectly  in  the  purchase  of  votes. 
Large  sums  of  money  pass  over  the  bars  of  the  saloon  at 
every  election,  left  there  by  candidates  or  their  friends,  for 
this  unrighteous  purpose,  and  hence  men  are  too  often 
entrusted  with  an  office  because  of  their  influence  over  the 
low  and  vicious  classes  rather  than  on  account  of  their  fit- 
ness and  qualifications. 

2.  The  Most  Important  Functions. — Among  the  most 
important  functions  of  these  organizations  are  the  selection 
of  candidates  and  the  adpption  of  a  platfcrm  or  declaration 
of  principles.     These  responsible  duties  are  intrusted  to 
conventions,  composed  of  delegates  chosen  for  the  purpose 
at  the  party  elections,  known  as  the  primaries. 

3.  Divisions. — Those  who  have  so  far  conformed  to  the 
rules  of  a  party  as  to  be  entitled  to  vote  at  its  primaries 
may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  as  follows:  1.  Citizens  who 


PARTY  GOVERNMENT.  225 

have  no  special  advantages  to  gain,  and  whose  only  motive 
for  participation  is  their  desire  for  good  government.  2. 
Those  who  are  actuated  by  personal  ambition  or  hopes  of 
securing  office,  contracts,  or  pecuniary  benefits. 

4.  Time  and  Labor. — In  order  to  carry  the  primaries  a 
considerable  amount  of  time  and  labor  must  necessarily  be 
expended.    The  voters  must  communicate  with  each  other; 
views  must  be  compared  and  harmonized;  candidates  sug- 
gested, interviewed  and  agreed  upon;  tickets  prepared  and 
supplied,  and  concert  of  action  secured. 

5.  Trickery  and  Fraud. — But  the  majority  of  citizens, 
engrossed  as  they  are  with  private  business  and  family 
cares,  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  for  such  tasks.  And 
when  their  reluctance  is  overcome,  as  it  occasionally  is  by 
their  sense  of  public  duty,  they  are  likely  to  find  that  their 
opponents  have  no  hesitation  in  resorting  to  misrepresenta- 
tion, trickery,  or  fraud,  in  order  to  control  the  result.  Under 
these  circumstances  a  small  but  well-disciplined,  energetic 
and  unscrupulous  minority  can  generally  defeat  the  honor- 
able and  patriotic  majority.     It  is  therefore  not  surprising 
that  honest  and  industrious  citizens  are  apt  to  conclude 
that  it  is  useless  for  them  to  take  part  in  such  contests. 

6.  Party  Leaders. — Public  offices,  contracts  and  pat- 
ronage are  what  they  work  for  and  what  they  must  have, 
by  fair  means  if  possible,  but  if  not,  then  by  whatever  means 
niay  be  necessary.     For  this  purpose  they  are  obliged  to 
combine  among  themselves  and  to  submit  to  such  leaders 
as  may  seem  best  able  to  direct  their  efforts  and  to  secure 
and  apportion  among  them  the  prizes  they  covet.     Having 
once  acquired  complete  control  of  a  nominating  convention, 
their  natural  desire  is,  of  course,  to  nominate  such  candi- 
dates as  will  best  serve  their  own  personal  interests,  and  in 
the  absence  of  factional  fights  among  themselves,  the  only 
real  check  upon  this  desire  is  their  fear  of  losing  enough  of 
the  more  independent  votes  to  turn  the  scale  in  th.e  general 
elections. 

7.  Candidates. — This  conflict  between  what  they  would 
like  to  do  and  what  they  dare  to  do,  usually  results  in  their 
nominating  such  men  as  have  no  more  honesty  and  inde- 
pendence than  may  seem  to  be  absolutely  necessary  for 
ultimate  success.    And  if  they  can  secure  candidates  who 
are  generally  believed  to  be  able  and  honorable,  but  who 
will  really  obey  and  assist  the  spoilsmen,  the  temptation  to 
nominate  them,  and  thus  deceive  and  outwit  the  people,  can 
hardly  be  resisted. 

8.  Party  Platform. — In  the  construction  of  a  party  plat- 
form the  leaders  are  naturally  governed  by  similar  motives, 


Filling  the  Party  Orator  with  Political  Wind. 


226 


PARTY  GOVERNMENT.  < 

and,  instead  of  publishing  a  frank  statement  of  their  real 
objects  and  intentions,  they  are  disposed  to  adopt  whatever 
may  seem  most  likely  to  attract  the  voters.  In  their  effort 
to  do  this  they  seek  to  treat  almost  every  subject  of  public 
Interest,  but  there  are  necessarily  some  points  in  regard  to 
which  even  the  members  of  their  own  party  are  divided, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  defects  of  party  government  that  while 
many  voters  find  sentiments  which  they  disapprove  in  each 
platform,  they  can  see  no  alternative  but  to  cast  their  ballots 
for  one  or  the  other  and  thus  seem  to  endorse  and  support 
ideas  to  which  they  are  really  opposed. 

9.  Vote  for  the  Best  Men.— It  would  appear,  therefore, 
that  our  system  of  political  parties  must  necessarily  tend  to 
place  the  selection  of  our  candidates  and  the  declaration  of 
our  principles  into  the  hands  of  a  small  minority  of  compara- 
tively selfish  and  unscrupulous  men.     It  is  therefore  evident 
that  in  order  to  secure  good  laws  and  preserve  our  free 
institutions  we  must  vote  for  the  best  men,  regardless  of 
party. 

10.  Candidate  Belongs  to  a  Party.— Under  such  a  sys- 
tem, if  a  candidate  belongs  to  a  party  which  happens  to  be 
on  the  most  popular  side  of  some  leading  question,  like  the 
tariff  or  silver  coinage,  his  lack  of  integrity  or  personal 
ability  must  be  very  glaring  to  prevent  his  election.    And 
when  he  takes  his  seat  in  a  legislative  body,  and  it  becomes 
his  duty  to  make  a  careful  study  of  some  important  ques- 
tion, to  sift  the  evidence  and  reach  a  wise  and  just  con- 
clusion, he,  who  should  be  like  an  impartial  judge  or  an 
unprejudiced  juryman,  may  be  found  to  be  only  the  bond- 
servant of  the  leaders  of  his  party,  a  mere  automaton  for 
the  registering  of  their  decrees. 

n.  The  Remedy. — The  business  and  industrious  classes 
will  have  to  take  more  of  an  active  part  in  the  elections.  The 
farmer  must  leave  his  farm  for  a  few  hours  and  the  busi- 
ness man  his  store  or  office  and  meet  in  the  primaries  and 
caucuses  and  defeat  the  wardheelers  and  unprincipled 
politicians  who  are  always  on  hand  to  advance  the  interests 
of  some  unworthy  candidate.  The  time  has  come  when 
men  must  take  an  interest  in  the  government  under  which 
they  live  and  to  which  they  must  look  for  liberty  and  pros- 
perity; and  the  time  must  come  when  men  must  not  vote 
for  party,  but  for  the  best  men;  men  who  are  honest  and  will 
fearlessly  do  their  duty  regardless  of  the  party  influences. 
A  public  officer  must  work  for  the  interest  of  the  people  at 
large,  and  not  solely  for  the  party  which  placed  him  in 
power.  The  President  of  the  United  States,  to  be  a  good 
executive  of  the  nation,  must  be  a  President  of  the  United 


228  PARTY   GOVERNMENT. 

States  in  fact  and  not  simply  a  president  of  the  party  which 
placed  him  in  office — and  the  same  principle  should  apply  to 
every  executive  or  legislative  office  in  the  gift  or  the 
people. 

12.  The  National   Parties.— The  national  parties  as 
Macy  in  his  Civil  Government  says,  are  the  agencies  which 
render  it  possible  for  millions  of  people  to  choose  their 
rulers  and  express  themselves  on  national  questions.   They 
are  thoroughly  organized.     Each  party  has  a  national  com- 
mittee, a  committee  in  each  state,  one  in  each  county  and 
often  one  in  each  township.     They  hold  caucuses,  prima- 
ries, and  conventions;  select  candidates  for  office; formulate 
political  doctrines;  hold  meetings,  persuade  voters  and  in 
various  ways  strive  to  secure  a  majority  of  the  votes. 

13.  Two  Parties  Only.— It  is  desirable  that  the  parties 
be  only  two  in  number.     They  are  artificial  agencies  for 
obtaining   majorities;  and  if  there  are  more  than  two  of 
them,  this  becomes  more  difficult.    A  third  party  may  be 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  advocating  certain  opinions, 
and  of  influencing  the  regular  parties  to  adopt  those  opin- 
ions; but  as  soon  as  one  of  the  parties  may  be  induced  to 
adopt  the  opinions  of  the  third  party,  the  latter  should  dis- 
band.    If  a  third  party  attempts  to  keep  up  a  separate  or- 
ganization after  it  loses  its  distinctive  principles,  it  becomes 
a  source  of  confusion  and  corruption  to  the  voters. 

14.  The  Third  Party. — A  third  party  may  -be  organ- 
ized for  the  purpose  of  displacing  one  of  the  old  parties. 
Such  a  plan  is  almost  sure  to  fail.     We  have  in  our  history 
one  notable  instarice:  the  Republican  party  displaced  the 
Whig  party;   but    the    circumstances    were    peculiar.      It 
would  be  a  great  waste  of  political  energy  to  disband  all 
the  counties  of  the  state,  and  then  organize  new  counties  in 
their  place.     It  is  likewise  a  waste  of  political  energy  to 
disband  an  old  party  and  organize  a  new  party  to  take  its 
place.     There  must  be  peculiar  circumstances  to  justify 
such  a  waste.     It  is  not  an  easy  task  to  make  seventy  mill 
ions  of  people  acquainted  with  a  new  organization. 


16 


230        HISTORY  OF   ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 


A  Complete  History  of  All  National 
Nominating  Conventions. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  very  far  back  in  our  history  to 
find  the  origin  of  our  nominating  conventions.  The  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  provided  only  for  the  election 
of  the  President  and  Vice-President,  and  the  idea  was  that 
electors  should  be  chosen  by  the  people  of  the  states,  who 
would  not  only  name  the  candidate  but  elect  him  to  his 
high  office.  In  the  choice  of  our  first  President  this  idea 
was  for  the  first  and  only  time  carried  out,  and  without  be- 
ing nominated  Washington  was  chosen  President  by  the 
first  Electoral  College  of  the  country.  The  number  of  elec- 
toral votes  cast  in  1789  was  69,  all  of  which  were  cast 
for  Washington.  John  Adams  received  the  next  highest 
number,  34,  and  was  declared  Vice-President.  During  the 
next  four  years  the  number  of  electoral  votes  increased  very 
largely,  being  132  at  the  second  presidential  election.  All 
of  these  were  cast  for  Washington,  while  John  Adams  re- 
ceived 77  votes  for  the  vice-presidency.  The  retirement  of 
Washington  in  1796-7  opened  the  doors  fora  host  of  presi- 
dential candidates,  there  being  no  other  man  whom  the 
people  could  unite  on  with  so  much  unanimity.  Upon 
opening  the  returns  for  the  election  of  Washington's  suc- 
cessor for  the  term  beginning  March  4,  1797,  there  were 
found  to  be  no  less  than  thirteen  distinguished  names 
among  those  voted  for  for  the  presidential  office.  These 
were  John  Adams,  Jefferson,  Thomas  Pinckney,  Burr,  Sam- 
uel Adams,  Ellsworth,  Jay,  Clinton,  Johnstone,  Iredell, 
Henry,  C.  C.  Pinckney  and  Washington.  At  this  election 
the  number  of  electoral  votes  had  increased  to  139,  of  which 
John  Adams  received  71  and  Thomas  Jefferson  the  next 
highest  number,  68. 


HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.       231 

1800. 

The  era  of  "republican  simplicity"  was  now  passing 
away.  The  gratitude  that  impelled  the  unanimous  election 
of  Washington  was  felt  in  regard  to  no  other  man,  and  the 
acknowledged  leadership  which  put  forward  Adams  and 
Jefferson  as  the  two  candidates  in  the  third  general  elec- 
tion was  no  longer  recognized.  Hence  the  date  1800  became 
an  era  in  our  political  history,  as  it  was  the  time  of  the  in- 
stitution of  the  nominating  caucus.  This  congressional 
caucus,  which  enjoys  the  honor  of  being  the  first,  was  held 
in  Philadelphia  during  the  year,  and  after  a  good  deal  of 
discussion  resulted  in  the  nomination  of  Jefferson  for  Presi- 
dent and  Burr  for  Vice-President.  The  presidential  con- 
test this  year  was  between  these  two  on  one  side  and  Adams 
and  Pinckney  on  the  other.  The  electoral  vote  was  188, 
and  stood  73  each  for  Jefferson  and  Burr,  65  for  Adams,  64 
for  Pinckney,  and  1  for  John  Jay.  No  choice  was  made  and 
the  election  went  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  which, 
after  balloting  thirty-six  times,  during  six  days,  resulted  in 
the  election  ot  Jefferson  and  Burr.  In  1804  the  contest  lay  be- 
tween Jefferson  and  Pinckney  for  President  and  Clinton  and 
King,  both  of  New  York,  for  Vice-President.  Though  there 
must  have  been  a  caucus  nomination  there  is  no  record  of 
such  an  event.  The  electoral  vote  was  176,  of  which  Jeffer- 
son and  King  received  162  and  Pinckney  and  Clinton  14. 

1808. 

Toward  the  close  of  Jefferson's  administration  the  Legis- 
lature of  Virginia  fell  into  discord  in  regard  to  the  respect- 
ive claims  of  Madison  and  Monroe  for  the  next  presidential 
term  and  a  Republican  congressional  caucus  was  held  in 
Washington  in  January,  1808,  to  decide  which  should  be 
nominated.  There  were  136  Republican  members  of  Con- 
gress, of  whom  94  attended  the  caucus  and  agreed  to  nomi- 
nate Madison.  No  record  exists  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  opposition  made  their  nominations,  but  the  opposing 
candidate  was  Pinckney.  The  electoral  vote  was  175,  of 
which  Madison  recived  122,  Pinckney  47,  and  Clinton  6. 
The  latter  for  Vice-President  received  113  ballots,  the  scat- 
tering votes  being  divided  among  a  number  of  rival  aspir- 
ants. 

1812. 

In  May,  1812,  a  congressional  caucus  nominated  Madison 
for  a  second  term.  This  year  is,  however,  memorable  for  the 
first  feeble  attempt  at  a  nominating  convention.  The  opposi' 


232         HISTORY   OF   ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

tion  had  been  growing  in  strength  and  called  a  convention 
to  meet  in  New  York  in  September,  1812.  Eleven  states 
were  represented  at  this  first  convention,  and  De  Witt 
Clinton,  of  New  York,  was  placed  in  nomination,  a  move- 
ment which  received  the  warmest  support  from  the  Legisla- 
ture of  that  state.  The  records  do  not  show  that  any  can- 
didate for  Vice-President  was  nominated  at  this  convention. 
The  election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Madison.  The  elec- 
toral vote  numbered  217,  of  which  Madison,  for  President, 
received  128  and  Clinton  89,  while  for  Vice-President  Gerry 
received  131  and  Ingersoll  86.  .  Madison  entered  upon  his 
second  term  March  4,  1813,  but  there  is  no  record  of  his 
having  taken  the  oath  of  office. 

1816. 

In  1816,  just  before  the  close  of  Madison's  second  term, 
the  Republican  congressional  caucus  again  met  and  nomi- 
nated James  Monroe  for  President.  There  were  119  votes 
in  the  caucus,  of  which  Monroe  received  65  and  Crawford, 
of  Geoj-gia,  54.  The  opposition  Federalists  were  consider- 
ably disorganized  at  this  time,  since  no  record  exists  of  any 
nomination,  though  their  ticket  was  represented  by  Rufus 
King,  of  New  York.  It  hardly  seems  possible  for  a  conven- 
tion to  have  been  held  of  which  no  records  remain,  and  the 
more  reasonable  supposition  is  that  King  presented  himself 
as  a  candidate  at  the  request  of  his  friends.  His  efforts 
were  in  vain,  for  he  was  badly  beaten.  The  number  of 
electoral  votes  cast  at  the  election  was  217,  of  which  Mon- 
roe received  183  and  King  34.  The  contest  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent was  more  lively,  as  five  candidates  contested  the  elec- 
tion. Harper  received  4  votes,  Ross,  5,  Marshall  4,  Howard 
22  and  Tompkins  183. 

1820. 

In  1820  the  Federalists  were  so  much  scattered  and  so 
unable  to  rally  their  forces  that  in  effect  no  opposition  was 
made  to  the  nomination  or  election  of  Monroe  to  his  second 
term.  The  electoral  vote  numbered  235,  of  which  Monroe 
received  231  and  John  Quincy  Adams  received  1.  As  be- 
fore, five  men  "entered  the  lists  for  the  vice-presidency. 
Harper  and  Rush  each  received  1  vote,  Rodney  4,  Stockton 
8,  and  Tompkins  218. 

1824. 

In  1824  the  caucus  feature  began  to  be  very  displeasing 
to  the  Republicans  in  general  and  great  numbers  of  them 
gave  previous  notice  that  they  would  not  be  governed  by 


HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.        233 

the  dictates  of  the  caucus.  There  were  at  this  time  216 
members  of  Congress  who  were  counted  as  Republicans,  yet 
the  caucus  which  nominated  Crawford  was  composed  of 
only  66  members,  and  in  consequence  of  the  slim  attend- 
ance and  the  non-concurrence  of  the  party  the  nomination 
of  Crawford  was  very  generally  repudiated  by  the  Republic- 
ans. Three  other  candidates  were  brought  into  the  field  by 
legislative  and  popular  nominations — Andrew  Jackson, 
John  Ouincy  Adams  and  Henry  Clay — while  six  nomina- 
tions for  the  vice-presidency  were  made.  The  number  of 
electoral  votes  in  the  contest  of  1824  was  261,  of  which  Jack- 
son received  99,  Adams  84,  Crawford  41,  and  Clay  37.  For 
Vice-President  Calhoun  received  182  votes,  Sandford  30, 
Macon  24,  Jackson  31,  Clay  9,  and  Van  Buren  2.  No  elec- 
tion having  been  made,  the  contest  went  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  Adams  was  elected  by  the  vote  of  13 
states.  This  "  scrub  race,"  as  it  was  called,  put  an  end  to 
the  caucus  system. 

1828. 

As  soon  as  the  contest  of  1824  was  decided  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Tennessee  announced  Jackson  as  a  candidate  for  the 
next  term.  He  was  opposed  by  Adams,  but  no  record  ex- 
ists as  to  the  manner  or  the  latter's  nomination.  Calhoun, 
Rush  and  Smith  were  candidates  for  the  vice-presidency, 
but  how  they  were  designated  as  such  is  not  known.  The 
contest  was  a  spirited  one,  and  resulted  in  Jackson's  elec- 
tion by  a  large  majority.  There  were  261  electoral  votes,  of 
which  Jackson  received  178  and  Adams  83.  For  Vice-Presi- 
dent Calhoun  received  171,  Rush  83,  and  Smith  7. 

1832. 

We  now  come  to  what  may  properly  be  regarded  as  the 
convention  period  of  American  politics,  which  has  contin- 
ued down  to  the  present  time.  The  first  regular  national 
nominating  convention  of  which  any  record  can  be  found 
met  in  Philadelphia  in  September,  1830.  It  was  called  .the 
United  States  Anti-Masonic  convention,  and  was  composed 
of  98  delegates,  who  represented  New  York,  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  Vermont,  Rhode  Island,  Pennsylvania,  New 
Jersey,  Delaware,  Ohio,  Maryland  and  Michigan  territory. 
Francis  Granger,  of  New  York,  was  president,  but  no  busi- 
ness was  transacted  except  to  issue  a  call  for  another  con- 
vention of  persons  opposed  to  secret  societies,  to  be  held  at 
Baltimore.  In  compliance  with  this  call  the  national  Anti- 
Masonic  convention  assembled  at  Baltimore  September  26, 
1831,  There  were  112  delegates  present,  every  state  being 


234        HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

represented,  but  only  New  York,  Massachusetts  and  Penn- 
sylvania had  .the  full  number  of  .delegates  allowed.  This 
movement  had  its  origin  in  the  excitement  caused  by  the 
alleged  killing  of  Morgan  for  disclosing  the  secrets  of  Free- 
masonry. John  C.  Spencer,  of  New  York,  was-chosen  presi- 
dent. The  convention  nominated  William  Wirt,  of  Mary- 
land, for  President,  and  Amos  Ellmaker,  of  Pennsylvania, 
for  Vice-President. 

In  May,  1832,  t.he  first  national  Democratic  convention 
was  held,  in  Baltimore.  The  party  was  entirely  satisfied 
with  Jackson,  and  there  could  be  no  organized  opposition  to 
his  renomination,  and  so  it  was  unanimously  confirmed  by 
the  convention.  The  real  purpose  of  the  convention  was 
the  nomination  of  a  vice-presidential  candidate,  the  party 
having  fallen  out  with  Calhoun.  At  this  convention  Gen. 
Robert  Lucas  of  Ohio  presided,  and  the  regular  proceed- 
ings began  with  the  adoption  of  the  famous  two-thirds  rule, 
which  has  been  affirmed  in  every  national  Democratic  con- 
vention from  that  day  to  this.  Delegates  to  the  number  of 
313  were  present.  Martin  Van  Buren  was  nominated  for 
Vice-President,  receiving  208  votes. 

The  Republicans  recognized  the  fact  that  conventions 
were  to  be  the  popular  means  for  nomination  of  candidates, 
and  accordingly  met  in  convention  at  Baltimore  December 
12, 1831.  James  Barbour  was  chosen  president.  There  were 
157  delegates  present,  representing  seventeen  states  and 
the  District  of  Columbia.  No  formal  declaration  of  princi- 
ples was  made,  but  an  address  was  published  dealing  with 
the  shortcomings  of  Gen.  Jackson,  in  which  he  and  his  ad- 
ministration were  severely  criticised.  The  unanimous  vote 
of  the  convention  was  cast  for  Henry  Clay  as  the  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  and  for  John  Sergeant  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent. The  address  of  the  convention  recommended  another 
convention  of  "  young  men  of  the  Republican  party,"  and 
in  pursuance  thereof  a  convention  was  held  May  11, 1832,  in 
Washington.  William  C.  Johnson  was  chairman,  but  as  the 
nominations  of  the  party  had  been  made  the  preceding 
autumn  nothing  was  left  for  the  convention  to  do  except  to 
pass  resolutions,  which  it  did,  in  favor  of  industrial  protec- 
tion and  internal  improvements,  and  against  the  rotation-in- 
office  principle  lately  promulgated  by  Jackson. 

In  the  contest  of  1832  there  were  twenty  other  candidates 
who  ran  without  having  regular  party  nominations.  In  the 
election  the  electoral  votes  numbered  288;  for  President, 
Wirt  received  7,  Floyd  11,  Henry  Clay  49,  and  Jackson  219. 
For  Vice-President,  Ellmaker  received  7  votes,  Lee  11.  Wil- 
kins  30.  Sergeant  49,  and  Van  Buren  189. 


HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.        235 
1836. 

The  years  1835  and  1836  saw  the  convention  system 
fairly  under  way.  There  were  two  nominating  conventions 
held.  The  Democratic  national  convention  assembled  in 
Baltimore  in  May,  with  representatives  from  twenty-one 
states.  Andrew  Stevenson  presided,  and  for  the  first  time 
there  was  a  long  list  of  honorary  Vice-Presidents.  Only  one 
ballot  for  the  presidential  nomination  was  taken,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  unanimous  choice  of  Martin  Van  Buren.  The 
ballot  for  Vice-President  resulted  in  87  votes  tor  Rives  and 
178  for  R.  M.  Johnson.  No  platform  was  adopted  by  the 
convention. 

A  Whig  state  convention  held  in  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  in  the 
latter  part  of  1835,  by  acclamation  nominated  William 
Henry  Harrison  and  Francis  Granger  for  the  national 
ticket,  and  a  Democratic  Anti-Masonic  convention  held  soon 
after  in  the  same  city  ratified  the  nomination  of  Harrison, 
but  substituted  John  Tyler  in  place  of  Granger  for  the  vice- 
presidency.  A  number  of  other  nominations  were  made  by 
state  Legislatures  and  other  bodies,  whose  records  have 
been  lost.  There  were  in  all  five  candidates  for  President, 
and  in  the  election  Mangum  received  11  votes,  Webster  14, 
White  26,  Harrison  73,  and  Van  Buren  176.  For  Vice-Pres- 
ident there  were  four  candidates.  Smith  received  23  votes, 
Taylor  47,  Granger  77,  and  Johnson  147. 

1840. 

The  years  1839  and  1840  saw  three  conventions,  the  first 
of  which  was  also  the  first  Abolition  convention  ever  held  in 
the  United  States.  Its  session  began  at  Warsaw,  N.  Y.,  No- 
vember 13, 1839,  and  lasted  several  days.  Distinct  Abolition 
principles  were  announced  in  its  platform  and  James  G. 
Birney  was  nominated  for  President,  Francis  J.  LeMoyne 
for  Vice-President.  Although  these  candidates  declined 
the  nominations,  they  received  7,609  votes  in  the  Northern 
states. 

The  Whig  national  convention  met  at  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  De- 
cember 4, 1839.  Twenty-one  states  were  represented  by  254 
delegates,  and  James  Barbour  presided.  Balloting  was  car- 
ried on  in  the  committee  of  the  whole  for  several  days,  but 
no  result  was  reached  until  the  Scott  delegates  went  over  to 
Harrison.  The  first  ballot  in  the  convention  resulted  in  16 
votes  for  Winfield  Scott,  90  for  Henry  Clay,  and  148  for 
William  Henry  Harrison.  There  was  no  contest  over  the 
vice-presidency,  John  Tyler  being  the  unanimous  choice  of 
thr  convention. 


236         HISTORY  OF   ALL   NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

The  national  Democratic  convention  assembled  at  Balti- 
more June  5,  1840.  Delegates  from  twenty-one  states  were 
present  and  William  Carroll  presided.  Van  Buren  was 
unanimously  nominated  for  President,  but  when  the  ques- 
tion of  Vice-President  arose  the  dissension  was  so  serious 
that  no  choice  was  made,  but  the  designation  of  a  candidate 
was  left  to  the  people.  In  this  election  the  number  of  elec- 
toral votes  was  294,  of  which  Van  Buren  received  60  and 
Harrison  234.  There  were  four  candidates  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent.  Polk  received  1  vote,  Tazewell  11,  Johnson  48,  and 
Tyler  234. 

1844. 

The  canvass  of  1844  was  preceded  by  three  national 
conventions.  The  Liberal  party  national  convention  began 
at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  August  30, 1843.  It  was  virtually  the  Aboli- 
tion party  under  a  new  name  and  adopted  an  extended  dec- 
laration of  belief  embodying  the  principles  of  Abolitionism 
afterward  openly  expressed  by  the  Republican  party.  Lei- 
cester King  presided,  and  the  nominees  were  James  G.  Bir- 
ney  for  President  and  Thomas  Morris  for  Vice-President. 

The  Whig  national  convention  assembled  at  Baltimore, 
May  1,  1844,  and  was  composed  of  delegates  from  every 
state  in  the  Union.  Ambrose  Spencer  was  president  and 
Henry  Clay  was  nominated  for  President  without  a  dissent- 
ing voice.  The  choice  of  a  Vice-President  was  more  diffi- 
cult and  three  ballots  were  taken  before  a  choice  was  made. 
On  the  last  ballot  Frelinghuysen  received  155  votes,  Davis 
79,  and  Fillmore  40. 

The  Democratic  national  convention  met  in  Baltimore, 
May  27,  1844.  The  two-thirds  rule  was  responsible  for  the 
convention  being  a  hot  one.  Nine  ballots  were  taken,  there 
being  four  candidates  on  the  first.  Of  the  votes  cast  Van 
Buren  received  146,  Cass  93,  Johnson  29,  and  Buchanan  4. 
There  was  not  much  change  in  the  balloting  until  the  eighth, 
when  Van  Buren  received  104,  Cass  114,  Buchanan  2,  Cal- 
houn  2,  a»d  Polk  44.  This  was  the  first  ballot  in  which 
Polk's  name  was  mentioned.  On  the  ninth  ballot  Polk  re- 
ceived 233  votes,  Van  Buren  2,  and  Cass  29.  Silas  Wright 
was  nominated  for  Vice-President,  but  he  declined,  and 
George  M.  Dallas  was  substituted.  The  result  was  the 
election  of  Polk,  he  receiving  170  electoral  votes  and  Clay 
t«5. 

1848. 

Three  conventions  preceded  the  contest  of  this  year. 
The  Democratic  convention  was  held  in  Baltimore,  May  17, 
1848.  There  was  considerable  trouble  at  the  outset  with 


HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.       237 

the  credentials  of  the  delegates  who  claimed  recognition. 
New  York  sent  two  delegations,  one  commonly  known  as 
"barnburners  "  and  the  other  as  "hunkers."  The  conven- 
tion sought  to  please  all  by  admitting  both,  but  neither  del- 
egation was  satisfied  unless  the  others  were  excluded,  and 
accordingly  both  withdrew.  Andrew  Stevenson  presided. 
Four-ballots  were  taken,  the  candidates  being  Cass,  Wood- 
bury,  Buchanan,  Calhoun,  Dallas,  Worth  and  Butler.  Cass 
began  with  125  votes  on  the  first  ballot  and  ran  up  to  179  on 
the  fourth,  and  was  nominated.  Three  ballots  were  taken 
tor  Vice-President,  on  the  first  of  which  William  O.  Butler 
received  114  and  Jefferson  Davis  1,  the  remainder  being 
scattered  among  several  candidates.  Butler  gained  on  the 
second  and  was  nominated  on  the  third  ballot.  The  "  barn- 
burners," who  bolted  the  convention,  were  so  incensed  at 
the  nomination  of  Cass  and  Butler  that  they  called  a  con- 
vention at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  June  22.  Samuel  Young  presided, 
and  Van  Buren  was  made  the  nominee  for  President  and 
Henry  Dodge  for  Vice-President. 

The  Whig  national  convention  met  in  Philadelphia 
June  7,  1848.  John  M.  Morehead  presided.  The  candidates 
were  Taylor,  Clay,  Scott,  Webster,  Clayton  and  McLean, 
and  four  ballots  were  taken.  The  number  of  votes  was  270, 
and  on  the  last  ballot  Taylor,  who  had  started  with  111,  re- 
ceived 171,  and  was  declared  the  nominee.  Fillmore  was 
nominated  on  the  second  ballot  for  Vice  President. 

August  9, 1848,  a  Free-Soil  convention  assembled  at  Buf- 
falo, having  representatives  from  eighteen  States.  Charles 
Francis  Adams  presided,  and  Van  Buren  and  Adams  were 
made  the  nominees  of  the  convention.  In  a  long  platform 
the  convention  protested  vigorously  against  the  action  of 
the  Whig  and  Democratic  conventions  and  demanded  the 
freedom  of  the  slaves  in  the  style  used  later  by  the  Aboli- 
tionists. Nothing  came  of  the  movement  and  Van  Buren 
and  Adams  received  no  votes  at  the  fall  election.  The 
electoral  vote  in  1848  was  290,  of  which  Taylor  secured  163, 
and  Cass  127. 

1852. 

The  campaign  of  1852  was  a  spirited  one  and  opened  in 
a  spirited  way.  The  Democratic  convention  met  in  Balti- 
more June  1,  arid  was  presided  over  by  John  W.  Davis  of 
Indiana.  There  were  ten  candidates,  and  forty-nine  ballots 
were  taken  before  a  candidate  was  nominated.  The  ballot 
sheet  is  called  one  of  the  greatest  curiosities  in  American 
politics  and  is  given  complete  on  the  following  pages: 

16 


238 


HISTORY   OF   ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 


BALLOTS. 

co- 
ca 

CJ 

Buchanan. 

Douglas. 

Marcy. 

Butler. 

Houston. 

1 

a 

c 

5 

Dickinson.  || 

Pierce. 

I.. 

116 
118 
119 
115 
114 
114 
113 
113 
112 
111 
101 
98 
98 
99 
99 
99 
99 
99 
89 
81 
60 
53 
37 
33 
34 
33 
32 
28 
27 
33 
64 
98 
123 
130 
131 
122 
120 
107 
106 
106 
107 

93 
95 
94 

89 
88 
88 
88 
88 
87 
86 
87 
88 
88 
87 
87 
87 
87 
85 
85 
92 
102 
104 
103 
103 
101 
101 
98 
96 
93 
91 
79 
74 
72 
49 
39 
28 
28 
28 
28 
27 
27 

20 
23 
21 
21 
34 
34 
34 
34 
39 
40 
50 
51 
51 
51 
51 
51 
50 
56 
63 
64 
64 
77 
78 
80 
81 
80 
85 
38 
91 
92 
92 
80 
60 
53 
52 
43 
37 
33 
33 
33 
33 

27 

27 
26 
25 
26 
26 
26 
26 
27 
27 
27 
27 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
25 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
26 
25 
23 
44 
58 
70 
84 
85 
85 
85 

0 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

13 
15 
19 
23 
24 
24 
24 
25 
25 
20 
16 
1 
2 

1 
1 

8 
* 
I 

r< 
< 

& 

8 
9 

9 
8 
8 
8 

Cj 

10 
10 
10 
10 

11 
11 

10 
10 
9 

9 
11 
9 
9 
10 
4 
11 
12 
12 
10 
8 
6 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 

n 

0 

3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 

13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 

ii 

13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 

1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 

1 

1 
16 
1 

1 

15 

30 
29 
29 
29 
29 
29 

2 

3  

4  

5 

6  

7  

8  

9  

10  

11  

12  

13...,  

14...!..,. 

15  

16  

17  

18  

19  

20  

21 

22  

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31.. 

32  

33  

34  

35  

36  

37  

38  

39.... 

40  

41  

HISTORY  OF   ALL   NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.       239 


BALLOTS. 

en 

CO 

a 

Buchanan. 

Douglas.  | 

o* 

1 

:J 
O> 

•z 

Houston.  1 

I 

S 

Dickinson.! 

o 
g 

42 

101 
101 
101 
96 

78 
75 
73 
2 

27 

27 
27 

28 
28 
28 

33 
33 
33 
32 
32 
33 
33 
9 

91 
91 
91 
97 

97 
95 
90 

2 

5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
6 

•• 

•• 

1 
1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 

29 
29 
29 
29 
44 
49 
55 
282 

43   

44  

45  

46  

47  

48  

49.. 

The  persistence  of  the  solitary  voter  who  voted  forty- 
eight  times  for  Daniel  S.  Dickinson  and  the  introduction  of 
Franklin  Pierce's  name  on  the  thirty-fifth  ballot,  which  re- 
sulted in  nomination  on  the  forty-ninth,  has  no  parallel  in 
the  history  of  American  political  conventions.  William  R. 
King  was  nominated  on  the  second  ballot  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

The  Whigs  met  at  Baltimore  June  16  and  an  uproarious 
session  of  six  days  followed.  There  were  no  sudden  or 
startling  changes,  as  in  the  Democratic  convention,  but  the 
gain  of  the  successful  candidate  was  slow  and  gradual. 
The  candidates  were  Scott,  Webster  and  Fillmore,  and  the 
number  necessary  to  a  choice  was  147.  Scott  began  with 
131  votes  and  increased  his  number  slowly  until  the  fifty- 
third  ballot,  when  he  had  159.  Fillmore  began  with  133  and 
ended  with  112.  Webster  began  with  29  and  ended  with  21. 
William  A.  Graham  was  nominated  on  the  second  ballot  for 
Vice-President. 

The  Free-Soil  Democrats  held  their  convention  at  Pitts- 
burg  August  11,  Henry  Wilson  presiding.  All  the  free  and 
several  of  the  slave  states  were  represented.  John  P.  Hale 
and  George  W.  Julian  were  nominated  for  President  and 
Vice-President,  respectively,  but  at  the  subsequent  election 
received  no  electoral  votes.  The  number  of  electoral  votes 
was  296,  and  of  these  Pierce  and  King  received  254,  while 
Scott  and  Graham  received  only  42.  In  this  contest  Pierce 
and  King  carried  all  the  states  except  Tennessee,  Kentucky, 
Massachusetts  and  Vermont. 


240        HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 
1856. 

Four  conventions  were  held  in  1856.  The  first  in  order  was 
that  of  the  American  National  Council,  which  met  in  Phila- 
delphia, February  19,  and  was  presided  over  by  E.  B.  Bart- 
lett.  Three  days  were  spent  in  adopting  a  platform,  which 
was  mainly  a  "  know-nothing,"  anti-administration  declara- 
tion. A  President  was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot,  which 
stood:  Fillmore  179,  Law  24,  Raynor  14,  McLean  13,  Davis 
10,  and  Houston  10.  Andrew  J.  Donelson  was  nominated 
for  Vice-President  on  the  first  ballot. 

The  Democrats  met  at  Cincinnati  June  2,  John  E.  Ward 
presiding.  Pro-slavery  and  state-rights  resolutions  of  the 
strongest  character  were  adopted  and  seventeen  ballots 
were  taken  before  a  nomination  was  made.  The  candidates 
were  Buchanan,  Pierce,  Cass  and  Douglas.  Buchanan 
began  with  135  votes  and  gained  steadily  to  296,  a  unanimous 
nomination.  Pierce  began  with  122  and  fell  off  gradually 
until  the  last  ballot.  Douglas  began  with  33  votes,  rose  to 
121,  and  on  the  last  ballot  had  3^  votes.  The  highest  vote 
received  by  Cass  was  7.  Ten  candidates  sought  the  vice- 
presidential  nomination,  but  on  the  second  ballot  all  with- 
drew except  Breckinridge,  who  was  unanimously  nomi- 
nated. 

The  first  Republican  national  convention  assembled  in 
Philadelphia  June  17,  Henry  S.  Lane,  of  Indiana,  being 
chosen  presiding  officer.  The  platform  was  decidedly  anti- 
slavery.  An  informal  ballot  for  President  was  taken  to  test 
the  preferences  of  the  delegates,  and  showed  359  votes  for 
John  C.  Fremont,  against  196  for  McLean.  The  nomination 
of  Fremont  was  at  once  declared  unanimous.  An  informal 
ballot  for  Vice-President  was  taken,  which  resulted  as  fol- 
lows: Henry  C.  Carey  received  3  votes,  S.  C.  Pomeroy  8, 
John  A.  King  9,  Henry  Wilson  9,  A.  C.  M.  Pennington  1,  N. 
P.  Banks  46,  W.  F.  Johnston  2,  J.  R.  Giddings  2,  Jacob  Col- 
lamer  15,  Cassius  M.  Clay  4,  Charles  Sumner  35,  Thomas 
Ford  7,  David  Wilmot  43,  Abraham  Lincoln  110,  and  Will- 
iam L.  Dayton  259.  The  latter  was  unanimously  nominated, 
but  this  informal  ballot  will  always  be  memorable  as  show- 
ing the  popularity  of  Mr.  Lincoln  at  this  early  day. 

The  Whigs  met  at  Baltimore  September  17,  Edward  Bates 
presiding.  The  platform  deprecated  the  reign  of  strong 
partisan  feeling  and  advocated  peace  and  quiet.  Fillmore 
and  Donelson  were  unanimously  nominated,  but  in  the  sub- 
sequent election  carried  only  Maryland. 

Of  the  296  electoral  votes  Buchanan  and  Breckinridge 
received  174,  Fremont  and  Dayton  114,  and  Fillmore  a^nd 
Donelson  8. 


HISTORY  OF   ALL   NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.        241 
1860. 

The  year  1860  marks  a  new  era  in  American  politics  and 
the  conventions  of  this  year  show  the  great  upheaval  that 
had  taken  place  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  An  account  of 
the  conventions  of  this  year  is  given  more  in  detail  for  this 
reason.  The  national  Democratic  convention  met  at 
Charleston  April  23.  Every  state  in  the  Union  was  repre- 
sented by  full  delegations,  but  the  party  dissensions  in 
Illinois  and  New  York  caused  the  sending  of  two  delegations 
from  each  of  these  states.  Francis  B.  Flournoy  was  chosen 
temporary  chairman.  The  exclusion  of  the  "  Wood  "  dele- 
gation from  New  York  and  the  admission  of  the  Douglas 
delegation  from  Illinois  inflamed  the  southern  members  of 
the  convention  at  the  very  start,  and  much  angry  debate 
followed.  Caleb  Cushing  was  chosen  permanent  chairman 
and  a  platform  committee  was  selected,  it  being  insisted 
that  a  platform  was  necessary  before  a  candidate  was 
nominated.  The  platform  committee  wrangled  four  days 
and  were  unable  to  agree  and  accordingly  four  platforms 
were  submitted  to  the  convention  from  which  to  select  one. 
The  platform  presented  by  the  majority  of  the  committee 
declared  "that  Congress  had  no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in 
the  territories;  that  the  territorial  Legislature  had  no  power 
to  abolish  slavery  in  the  territories,  nor  to  prohibit  the  intro- 
duction of  slavery  therein,  nor  any  power  to  destroy  or 
impair  the  right  of  property  in  slaves  by  any  legislation 
whatever;"  and  "  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  govern- 
ment to  protect  the  rights  of  persons  and  property  on  the 
high  seas,  in  the  territories,  or  wherever  else  its  jurisdiction 
extends."  These  ultra  pro-slavery  declarations  were  dis- 
sented from  by  others  of  the  committee  who,  headed  by 
Henry  B.  Payne,  brought  in  a  minority  report,  reaffirming 
the  Cincinnati  platform  of  1856,  which  advocated  the  non- 
interference of  Congress  with  slavery  in  the  territories  and 
declared  that  slavery  was  a  question  of  property — as  such 
should  be  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court — and  pledged  the 
Democracy  to  abide  by  the  decision  of  that  court.  This 
minority  report  was  signed  by  members  of  the  committee 
from  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Rhode  Island,  Con- 
necticut, New  Jersey,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,Wis- 
consin,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  A 
third  report  was  presented  by  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler,  which 
indorsed  the  Cincinnati  platform  with  some  trivial  altera- 
tions. A  fourth  report  was  presented  by  T.  A.  Bayard,  which 
also  affirmed  the  Cincinnati  platform  with  the  proviso  that 
all  cui/ens  had  equal  rights  in  the  territories.  These  reports 
were  all  sent  back  to  the  committee  and  on  the  next  day 


242        HISTORY   OF   ALL   NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

Mr.  Avery  brought  in  a  modified  platform  from  the  majority. 
This  assorted  the  rights  of  the  slave-holders  in  the  terri- 
tories and  when  a  sufficient  number  of  inhabitants  were  in 
any  territory,  the  same  should  be  admitted  as  a  state  with- 
out taking  the  slavery  question  into  consideration  at  all. 
The  minority  report  was  brought  in  by  Mr.  Samuels,  of 
Iowa,  and  embodied  the  same  measures  that  were  urged  by 
the  three  minority  reports  previously  submitted.  The 
majority  report  was  adopted  by  the  convention  by  a  vote  of 
165  to  138.  This  action  of  the  convention  was  bitterly  re- 
sented by  the  Sothern  delegates,  and  the  delegation  of  Ala- 
bama offered  a  protest  to  the  proceedings  and  afterward  with- 
drew from  the  convention.  The  delegations  from  Florida, 
Mississippi  and  Texas  followed  the  lead  of  Alabama.  Parts 
of  the  delegations  from  Louisiana,  South  Carolina,  Arkan- 
sas, Delaware  and  North  Carolina  also  withdrew.  After  the 
withdrawal  of  these  delegates,  the  convention  proceeded  to 
ballot  for  President.  The  full  convention  contained  303 
members,  but  a  large  number  had  withdrawn,  so  that  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  202  members  would  be  difficult  for  any  one 
candidate  to  secure.  The  two-thirds  rule  prevailed  and  the 
result  was  that  no  nomination  was  made  at  Charleston. 
Fifty-seven  ballots  were  taken,  however,  the  candidates 
being  Douglas,  Guthrie,  Hunter,  Dickinson,  Andrew  John- 
son, Lane,  Jefferson  Davis,  Toucy  and  Pierce.  The  candi- 
date who  had  the  highest  vote  was  Douglas,  who  received 
152j^.  The  convention  adjourned  to  meet  at  Baltimore  on 
the  18th  of  June.  At  the  appointed  time  full  representations 
were  present  from  all  those  states  which  had  not  withdrawn 
from  the  Charleston  convention,  and  the  delegations  that  had 
left  that  convention  were  excluded  from  this.  Enraged  at 
this  exclusion  of  the  seceding  delegates  the  delegations 
from  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  California  and 
Delaware,  together  with  portions  of  the  delegations  from 
Maryland,  Kentucky,  Massachusetts  and  Missouri  retired 
from  the  convention.  Mr.  Gushing,  the  chairman,  also 
retired,  and  Gen.  Todd,  of  Ohio,  was  chosen  in  his  place. 
Balloting  for  President  began,  Douglas,  Breckinridge  and 
Guthrie  being  placed  in  nomination.  Two  ballots  were 
taken.  On  the  first  Breckinridge  received  5,  Guthrie  10  and 
Douglas  173^.  On  the  second  Guthrie  received  5^,  Breck- 
inridge 7^  and  Douglas  181^.  After  the  second  ballot 
Douglas  was  unanimously  nominated.  Fitzpatrick  was 
nominated  for  Vice-President,  but  declined,  and  Herschel 
V.  Johnson,  of  Georgia,  was  substituted. 


HISTORY  OF   ALL   NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.        243 

The  seceders  from  the  Baltimore  convention  met  in  that 
city  June  28.  In  all,  twenty-one  states  were  fully  or  in  part 
represented,  but  there  were  no  delegates  from  Connecticut, 
Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Maine,  Michigan,  New  Hampshire, 
New  Jersey,  Ohio,  Rhode  Island,  South  Carolina  or  Wiscon- 
sin. Caleb  Gushing  presided.  The  two-thirds  rule  was 
adopted  and  the  delegates  who  had  been  refused  admission 
to  the  regular  convention  were  urged  to  unite  with  this 
body.  The  Avery  platform,  upon  which  the  Charleston 
convention  had  split,  was  unanimously  adopted.  One  ballot 
was  taken  for  President,  John  C.  Breckinridge  receiving  105 
votes,  being  the  whole  number  of  delegates  present.  Joseph 
Lane,  of  Oregon,  was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot  for  Vice- 
President. 

The  band  of  seceders  from  the  Charleston  conven- 
tion met  at  Richmond  June  11  and  organized  by  choosing 
John  Erwin  as  chairman.  Delegates  were  present  from 
Alabama,  Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  Florida,  Tennessee  and  Virginia.  This 
convention  did  nothing  more  than  ratify  the  nomina- 
tions of  Breckinridge  and  Lane  made  by  the  Baltimore 
seceders. 

A  Constitutional  Union  convention  was  held  at  Baltimore 
May  9.  It  promulgated  strictly  Union  and  Constitutional 
principles.  The  candidates  for  President  were  John  Bell, 
Sam  Houston,  John  M.  Butts,  John  McLean,  J.  J.Crittenden, 
Edward  Everett,  W.  L.  Goggin,  W.  A.  Graham,  W.  L. 
Sharkey  and  \V.  C.  Rives.  Bell  and  Everett  were  unan- 
imously nominated. 

The  Republican  national  convention  met  in  Chicago 
May  16.  It  was  called  to  order  by  David  Wilmot  and  was 
composed  of  delegates  from  all  the  free  states,  together 
with  representatives  from  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Missouri.  George  Ash- 
mun,  of  Massachusetts,  was  chosen  permanent  chairman. 
The  majority  rule  in  nominating  candidates  was  adopted. 
The  platform  adopted  boldly  declared  the  condition  to  which 
the  country  had  been  reduced  was  due  to  the  continued 
years  of  Democratic  rule,  and  promulgated  Republican 
doctrines  in  regard  to  slavery  in  the  territories.  The 
eighth  plank  in  the  platform  was  specially  directed  against 
slavery  and  declared  it  to  be  a  shameless  institution  and 
that  it  should  not  be  spread  in  the  territories  of  the  United 
States.  The  candidates  for  President  were  many,  including 
Seward,  Lincoln,  Wade,  Cameron,  Bates,  McLean,  Reade, 


244         HISTORY   OF   ALL   NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

Chase,  Dayton,  Sumner,  Fremont,  Callamer  and  C.  M.  Clay. 
The  result  of  the  balloting  was  as  follows: 


1 

2 

3 

Seward                                                 . 

173^ 

184  y> 

180 

Lincoln                  ....           

102 

181 

231  K 

Wade              

3 

Cameron 

50^ 

Bates                .                ... 

48 

35 

22 

McLean  

12 

8 

5 

Reade 

1 

Chase  

49 

42^ 

24# 

Dayton                            

14 

10 

1 

Sumner                    

1 

Fremont 

1 

Callamer 

10 

Clay 

2 

1 

After  the  third  ballot  Lincoln  lacked  only  2>^  votes  of  a 
nomination.  A  change  of  4  votes  in  Ohio  from  Chase  to 
Lincoln  made  his .  nomination  assured.  Changes  rapidly 
followed  until  the  nomination  was  made  unanimous.  The 
balloting  for  Vice-President  was: 


1 

2 

101K 

86 

Banks 

38  y. 

Reeder     

51 

Hickman  

58 

18 

Hamlin  

194 

367 

Read 

1 

Davis     

8 

Dayton  

3 

Houston                                            .  . 

6 

The  whole  number  of  electoral  votes  was  315,  of  which 
Lincoln  and  Hamlin  received  180,  Breckinridge  and  Lane 
72,  Bell  and  Everett  39,  and  Douglas  and  Johnson  12. 


HISTORY   OF   ALL   NOMINATING   CONVENTIONS.        245 
1864. 

The  war  was  in  progress  in  1864  and  the  nominating 
conventions  were  few  and  devoid  of  any  interest  except 
such  as  arose  from  the  question  of  preservation  of  the 
Union. 

The  Republicans  met  in  Baltimore  June  7,  William  Den- 
nison,  of  Ohio,  presiding. 

There  was  a  very  full  representation  of  delegates,  many 
being  admitted  from  the  states  actually  in  rebellion.  The  con- 
vention was  unanimously  in  favor  of  Lincoln's  renomination, 
and  on  the  first  ballot  he  received  497  votes,  being  the  entire 
vote  of  the  convention  except  22  votes  from  Missouri,  which 
were  given  to  Gen.  Grant.  The  Vice-Presidential  candi- 
dates were  Hamlin,  L.  H.  Rosseau,  D.  S.  Dickinson  arid 
Andrew  Johnson.  As  the  first  ballot  was  taken  every  one 
perceived  the  great  numerical  strength  of  Johnson,  and  he 
was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot. 

The  Democrats  met  in  Chicago  August  19.  Horatio  Sey- 
mour was  the  permanent  president.  The  attendance  of 
delegates  was  by  no  means  full  and  little  interest  was  mani- 
fested in  the  convention  either  by  the  people  or  the  dele- 
gates. George  B.  McClellan  was  nominated  for  President 
on  the  first  ballot,  receiving  202^  votes,  while  Seymour 
received  23^.  The  candidates  for  Vice-President  were 
Pendleton,  Guthrie,  D.  W.  Voorhees,  G.  W.  Cass,  August 
Dodge,  J.  D.  Catron,  Powell  and  Phelps.  Before  the  second 
ballot  all  had  withdrawn,  leaving  Mr.  Pendleton  a  clear 
field,  and  he  was  nominated.  The  number  of  electoral  votes 
was  331  and  of  these  Lincoln  and  Johnson  received  212  and 
McClellan  and  Pendleton  21. 

1868. 

The  Republicans  led  off  in  the  conventions  of  the  year, 
meeting  at  Chicago  May  20,  with  Gen.  Hawley  as  presiding 
officer.  There  was  only  one  sentiment  in  the  party  regard- 
ing a  presidential  candidate,  and  Gen.  Grant  received  every 
vote  in  the  convention  on  the  first  ballot.  For  the  vice- 
presidency  there  was  more  difference  of  opinion.  Colfax, 
Wade,  Hamlin,  Fenton,  Wilson,  Curtin,  Kelly,  Harlan, 
Pomeroy,  Speid,  and  Cresswell  all  sought  the  nomina- 
tion. Five  ballots  were  taken,  a.nd  Colfax  was  unanimously 
nominated  on  the  fifth. 

The  Democrats  met  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  July  4. 
Horatio  Seymour  presided.  There  were  a  large  number 
of  aspirants  for  the  presidential  nomination,  including  Han- 


246        HISTORY  OF  ALL   NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

cock,  Hendricks,  Seymour,  English,  Doolittle,  Johnson, 
Chase,  McClellan,  Field,  Hoffman,  Blair,  and  Pendleton. 
Twenty-two  ballots  were  taken,  and  Seymour  was  nomi- 
nated while  seated  in  the  chair  guiding  the  deliberations 
of  the  convention.  Frank  P.  Blair  was  nominated  on  the 
first  ballot  for  Vice-President. 

The  number  of  electoral  votes  was  294,  of  which  Grant 
and  Colfax  received  214,  and  Seymour  and  Blair  80. 

1872. 

The  first  convention  of  the  year  was  that  of  the  national 
Prohibition  party.  This  party  had  been  organized  at  a  meet- 
ing called  for  that  purpose  at  Chicago  September  1, 1869. 
The  name  first  adopted  was  the  Anti-Dramshop  party,  but 
before  the  meeting  adjourned  the  name  was  changed.  The 
party  convention  met  at  Columbus,  O.,  February  22,  1872. 
The  Rev.  John  Russell  called  the  convention  to  order;  the 
Hon.  Henry  Fish  was  chosen  temporary,  and  the  Hon.  S.  P. 
Chase  permanent  chairman.  The  platform  declared  for 
prohibition  in  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  for  suff- 
rage without  regard  to  "  color,  race,  former  social  condition, 
sex,  or  nationality."  The  subject  of  nominations  was  referred 
to  a  committee  of  13,  who  reported  the  name  of  James  Black, 
of  Pennsylvania,  for  President,  and  that  of  the  Rev.  John 
Russell,  of  Michigan,  for  Vice-President. 

The  chief  interest,  however,  in  the  campaign  of  1872 
centered  in  the  Liberal  Republican  movement.  This  move- 
ment originated  in  Missouri  in  1870,  its  chief  instigators 
being  Carl  Schurz  and  B.  Gratz  Brown.  It  consisted  of 
moderate  Democrats  and  disgruntled  Republicans,  who 
united  in  a  state  campaign  in  support  of  the  "Liberal 
ticket."  A  mass  state  convention  was  called  by  the  Repub- 
lican wing  of  the  party  to  meet  at  Jefferson  City  January 
24,  1872,  and  at  this  meeting  nearly  every  county  in  the 
state  was  represented.  It  closed  its  proceedings  by  issuing 
a  call  for  a  national  convention  at  Cincinnati  on  the  first 
Monday  in  May,  "  to  take  such  action  as  their  convictions 
of  duty  and  of  public  exigencies  may  require."  January  9 
the  Democratic  State  Central  committee  of  Missouri  issued 
an  address  favoring  the  making  of  no  nominations  in  1872, 
and  the  support  of  the  candidate  of  the  disaffected  Repub- 
licans. On  May  1  a  large  convention  of  Liberal  Republicans 
assembled  in  Cincinnati,  and  organized  by  making  Carl 
Schurz,  of  Missouri,  the  permanent  chairman.  A  platform 
was  adopted,  which  was  believed  to  be  broad  enough  to 
accommodate  Democrats  as  well  as  Republicans.  Without 


HISTORY  OF  ALL   NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.        247 


the  formal  naming  of  candidates  the  balloting  for  President 
began.    Six  ballots  were  taken,  with  the  following  result: 


0) 

& 

a> 
a 

S 

00 

o> 

a 

OT 

a 

a 

. 

a 

*n5 

tn 

03 
T3 

2 

jl 

cd 

£ 

C 

•3 

8 
n 

£ 

PM 

o 

<J 

o 

d 

S 

w 

0 

s 

S 

fe 

2 

o 

a 

03 

o 

6 

PM 

B 

a 

pq 

O 

W 

»3 

ft 

PQ 

•4 

CO 

^ 

1 

203 

147 

100 

9254 

95 

62 

2J/ 

1 

2. 

233 

239 

148 

81 

2 

1 

3  

264 

258 

156 

44 

2 

4  

279 

251 

141 

51 

2 

5  

309 

258 

91 

30 

2 

24 

6  

324 

332 

19 

6 

32 

1 

Before  the  sixth  ballot  was  announced  Minnesota  changed 
9  votes  from  Trumbull  to  Greeley;  Pennsylvania  changed 
her  vote  to  50  for  Greeley  and  6  for  Davis;  Indiana 
changed  her  27  to  Adams.  Other  changes  followed,  and 
the  chairman  announced  the  result  as  482  for  Greeley  and 
187  for  Adams.  For  Vice-President  B.  Gratz  Brown  was 
nominated  on  the  second  ballot,  receiving  495  against  175 
for  G.  W.  Julian;  75  for  S.  C.  Walker;  3  for  T.  W.  Tipton, 
and  8  for  John  M.  Palmer.  Many  of  the  Liberal  Republicans 
were  dissatisfied  with  the  nomination  of  Greeley,  and  a  meet- 
ing was  held  in  New  York  May  30,  composed  of  such  per- 
sons. In  compliance  with  the  views  of  this  meeting  a 
conference  was  subsequently  held  on  June  20  of  persons 
invited.  The  invitation  to  this  conference  was  signed  by 
"^arl  Schurz,  Jacob  D.  Cox,  William  Cullen  Bryant,  Oswald 
Ottendorfer,  David  A.  Wells,  and  Jacob  Brinkerhoff.  A 
series  of  resolutions  was  adopted,  and  William  S.  Groes- 
beck,  of  Ohio,  was  nominated  for  President,  and  F.  L. 
Olmsted,  of  New  York,  for  Vice-President.  During  the 
excitement  of  this  canvass  this  ticket  was  lost  sight  of,  and  at 
the  ensuing  election  received  no  votes. 

The  Republicans  assembled  in  Philadelphia  June  5.  Mor- 
ton McMichael  was  made  the  temporary,  and  Thomas  Settle 
the  permanent  chairman.  The  demand  of  the  party  was 
unanimously  for  Gen.  Grant  for  a  second  term,  and  he  was 
renominated  by  acclamation.  For  the  vice-presidency  Henry 
Wilson  received  364^  votes,  to  312^  for  Schuyler  Colfax, 
and  Mr.  Wilson  was  nominated. 


248        HISTORY  OF   ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

The  Democrats  met  at  Baltimore  July  9,  and  were  pre- 
sided over  by  James  R.  Doolittle.  Resolutions  were  adopted 
that  were  in  harmony  with  the  Cincinnati  platform  of  the 
Liberal  Republicans.  There  were  732  delegates  in  the  con- 
vention, and  the  vote,  in  the  nominating  of  a  candidate  foi 
the  presidency,  stood  as  follows:  Horace  Greeley  686, 
James  A.  Bayard  15,  Jeremiah  Black  21,  William  S.  Groes- 
beck  2, -blank  8.  Mr.  Greeley  received  more  than  two- 
thirds,  and  was  declared  the  nominee.  B.  Gratz  Brown 
received  713  votes  for  Vice-President. 

Some  Democrats,  who  were  opposed  to  the  nomination 
of  Greeley,  met  in  Louisville  September  3  to  nominate  a  so- 
called  "  straight-out "  Democratic  ticket.  The  convention 
was  called  to  order  by  Blanton  Duncan,  and  James  Lyons 
was  made  the  permanent  chairman.  The  platform  declared 
that  "  we  proclaim  to  the  world  that  principle  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  power;  that  the  Democratic  party  is  held  together 
by  the  cohesion  of  time-honored  principles,  which  they  will 
never  surrender  in  exchange  for  all  the  offices  which  Presi 
dents  can  confer.  The  pangs  of  the  minorities  are  doubt- 
less excruciating,  but  we  welcome  an  eternal  minority  under 
the  banner  inscribed  with  our  principles,  rather  than  an 
almighty  and  everlasting  majority  purchased  by  their  aban- 
donment." Charles  O'Conor,  of  New  York,  was  nominated 
for  the  presidency,  and  John  Quincy  Adams,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, for  the  vice-presidency.  Mr.  O'Conor  persistently 
refused  to  be  a  candidate,  and  Mr.  Adams  consented  only 
on  the  condition  that  Mr.  O'Conor  withdraw  his  declination. 
This  was  riot  done,  and  a  small  number  of  votes  was  given 
for  the  ticket  in  the  country. 

There  were  349  votes  in  the  Electoral  College,  of  which 
Grant  and  Wilson  received  286,  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  42, 
B.  Gratz  Brown  18,  Charles  J.  Jenkins  2,  and  David  Davis 
1.  Mr.  Greeley  died  after  the  election,  and  the  Democrats 
scattered  their  votes. 

1876. 

Four  tickets  were  in  the  field  in  the  campaign  of  1876. 
The  National  Prohibition  Reform  party  assembled  at  Cleve- 
land May  17.  Over  100  delegates  were  present,  represent- 
ing the  states  of  Connecticut,  Illinois,  Kansas,  Kentucky, 
Michigan,  Minnesota,  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  New  York, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  Wisconsin.  The  Rev.  H.  A.  Thomp- 
son was  permanent  chairman.  The  Hon.  Green  Clay  Smith, 
of  Kentucky,  was  nominated  for  President,  and  the  Hon. 
G.  T.  Stewart,  of  Ohio,  was  nominated  for  Vice-President. 
At  the  ensuing  election  no  electoral  votes  were  cast  for  the 
nominees. 


HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.       249 


A  convention  of  Independents,  commonly  called  the 
National  Greenback  convention,  assembled  at  Indianapolis 
May  17.  Nineteen  states  were  represented  by  239  delegates. 
The  platform  demanded  "the  immediate  and  unconditional 
repeal  of  the  Specie  Resumption  Act  of  January  14, 1875,  and 
the  rescue  of  our  industries  from  the  ruin  and  disaster  result- 
ing from  its  enforcement."  Peter  Cooper,  of  New  York, 
was  nominated  for  President,  and  Newton  Booth,  of  Cali- 
fornia, for  Vice-President.  Mr.  Booth  subsequently  declined, 
and  Samuel  F.  Gary,  of  Ohio,  was  substituted  in  his  place. 
No  electoral  votes  were  given  the  candidates. 

The  Republicans  met  in  Cincinnati  June  14,  and  organized 
their  convention  by  electing  Edward  McPherson  chairman. 
There  were  a  number  of  candidates  for  the  presidential 
nomination,  and  seven  ballots  were  taken,  with  the  follow- 
ing result: 


. 

. 

05 

a 

a 

£ 

a 

cd 

£ 

a 

G 

g 

(« 

o 

<u 

« 

-£J 

a 

I 

05 

^ 

o 

o 

»-i 

>i 

0} 

^ 

0 

cS 

3 

0 

tf 

cd 

j5* 

g 

CQ 

8 

W 

^ 

^ 

W 

£ 

1? 

2 
3 

<j 

| 

W 

O 

i 

p^ 

^ 

CL 

pq 

pq 

1 

pq 

-» 

pq 

05 

^» 

S 

O 

PH 

W 

^ 

1.. 

285 

113 

99 

58 

11 

124 

61 

3 

2  

298 

114 

93 

63 

111 

64 

1 

3 

3 

293 

121 

90 

68 

113 

67 

1 

2 

4 

292 

126 

84 

71 

108 

68 

3 

2 

5    - 

286 

114 

82 

69 

95 

104 

3 

3 

6 

308 

111 

81 

50 

85 

113 

4 

2 

7 

351 

21 

384 

William  A.  Wheeler  was  then  nominated  for  Vice- 
President.  > 

The  Democratic  national  convention  met  in  St.  Louis 
June  28,  and  was  organized  by  the  choice  of  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand  as  chairman.  The  platform  was  called  the  reform 
platform,  because  it  proposed  to  reform,  all  the  alleged 
abuses  which  had  grown  up  under  the  Republican  rule. 
One  of  the  planks  denounced  "the  present  tariff  levied 
upon  nearly  4,000  articles  as  a  masterpiece  of  injustice, 
inequality,  and  false  pretense.  It  yields  a  dwindling,  not 
a  yearly  rising  revenue.  It  has  impoverished  many  indus- 
tries to  subsidize  a  few.  It  prohibits  imports  that  might 


250        HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

purchase  the  products  of  American  labor.  It  has  degraded 
American  commerce  from  the  first  to  an  inferior  rank  on 
the  high  seas.  It  has  cut  down  the  sales  of  American 
manufacture  at  home  and  abroad,  and  depleted  the  returns 
of  American  agriculture,  an  industry  followed  by  half  our 
people.  *  *  *  It  promotes  fraud,  fosters  smuggling, 
enriches  dishonest  officials,  and  bankrupts  honest  mer- 
chants. We  demand  that  all  custom-house  taxation  shall 
be  for  revenue  only."  There  were  738  delegates.  The  vote 
for  presidential  candidate  stood:  First  ballot,  Samuel  J. 
Tilden  404^,  William  Allen  54,  A.  G.  Thurman  3,  Thomas 
A.  Hendricks  140^,  T.  F.  Bayard  33,  Joel  Parker  18,  W.  S. 
Hancock  75,  M.  Broadhead,  16.  The  second  ballot  stood: 
Tilden  535,  Allen  54,  Thurman  2,  Hendricks  85,  Bayard  4, 
Hancock  58;  necessary  for  a  choice,  492.  Mr.  Hendricks 
was  nominated  for  Vice-President. 

There  being  a  dispute  over  the  electoral  votes  of  Florida, 
Louisiana,  Oregon  and  South  Carolina,  they  were  referred 
by  Congress  to  an  electoral  commission,  composed  of  eight 
Republicans  and  seven  Democrats,  which,  by  a  strict  party 
vote,  awarded  185  electoral  votes  to  Hayes  and  Wheeler, 
and  184  to  Tilden  and  Hendricks. 

1880. 

Gen.  Grant  returned  to  the  United  States  from  a  trip 
around  the  world  late  in  1879.  He  had  everywhere  been 
received  with  a  distinguished  consideration  that  was  grati- 
fying to  the  pride  of  the  American  people.  His  return 
under  these  circumstances  caused  his  name  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  Republican  nomination  for  the  presidency 
for  a  third  term.  No  sooner  was  this  done  than  a  strong 
opposition  to  his  nomination  appeared  in  the  Republican 
party.  So  strong  was  this  sentiment  that  a  Republican  Anti- 
Third  Term  convention  was  held  in  St.  Louis  on  May  6,  pre- 
sided over  by  J.  B.  Henderson,  at  which  strong  resolutions 
were  adopted  opposing  the  nomination  of  Gen.  Grant.  In 
many  states,  notably  New  York,  the  sentiment  in  favor  of 
Grant  was  equally  prominent.  The  national  convention 
met  in  Chicago  June  2,  and  a  six  days'  session  followed. 
George  F.  Hoar  was  both  temporary  and  permanent  presi- 
dent of  the  convention.  A  long  controversy  ensued  ovej 
the  power  of  state  conventions  to  name  delegates  from  the 
congressional  districts,  and  bind  their  action  by  instructions. 
Several  days  were  spent  in  debating  this  question,  and  it 
was  finally  decided  that  state  conventions  had  not  the 
power  to  bind  district  delegates  by  instructions^  This 
decision  resulted  in  the  loss  of  many  votes  for  Gen.  Grant 


HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.       251 


The  platform  did  not  differ  greatly  from  previous  party 
utterances.  The  fifth  plank,  however,  contained  this  sen- 
tence: "  We  affirm  the  belief,  avowed  in  1876,  that  the  duties 
levied  for  purposes  of  revenue  should  so  discriminate  as  to 
favor  American  labor."  This  was  all  that  was  said  regard- 
ing a  tariff.  The  first  ballot  for  President  was  taken  on  the 
7th,  the  fifth  day  of  the  convention,  and  before  a  nomination 
was  made  36  ballots  were  necessary.  The  vote  in  detail 
was  as  follows: 


0 

0 

• 

-S 

S 

, 

. 

r/; 

e 

. 

g 

a 

C3 

© 

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a 
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a 

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§ 

I 

03 

1... 

304 

284 

"93 

34 

30 

10 

19.. 

305 

279 

96 

31 

32 

10 

1 

2... 

305 

284 

94 

32 

31 

10 

20.. 

308 

276 

93 

31 

35 

10 

1 

3... 

305 

282 

93 

32 

31 

10 

i 

21.. 

305 

276 

96 

31 

35 

10 

1 

4... 

305 

281 

95 

32 

31 

10 

1 

22.. 

305 

275 

97 

31 

35 

10 

1 

5... 

305 

281 

95 

32 

31 

10 

1 

23.. 

304 

275 

97 

31- 

36 

10 

2 

6... 

305 

281 

95 

31 

31 

10 

2 

24.. 

305 

279 

93 

31 

35 

10' 

2 

7... 

305 

281 

94 

32 

31 

10 

2 

25.. 

302 

281 

94 

31 

35 

10 

2 

8... 

306 

284 

91 

32 

31 

10 

1 

26.. 

303 

280 

93 

31 

36 

10 

2 

9... 

308 

282 

90 

31 

32 

10 

2 

27.. 

306 

277 

93 

31 

36 

10 

2 

10... 

305 

282 

9231 

32 

10 

2 

28.. 

307 

279 

91 

31 

35 

10 

2 

11... 

305 

281 

93 

31 

32 

10 

2i 

29.. 

305 

278 

116 

12 

35 

7 

2 

12... 

304 

283 

92 

31 

33 

10 

1 

30.. 

307 

279 

118 

11 

33 

4 

1 

13... 

305 

285 

89 

31 

33 

10 

1 

31.. 

308 

276 

118 

11 

37 

3 

1 

14... 

305 

285 

89 

31 

35 

10 

32.. 

309 

270 

119 

11 

35 

3 

1 

15... 

309 

281 

88 

31 

36 

10 

!!! 

33.. 

309 

276 

110 

11 

44 

4 

1 

16... 

306 

283 

88 

31 

36 

10 

34.. 

312 

275 

107 

11 

30 

4 

17 

17... 

303 

284 

90 

31 

36 

10 

35.. 

313 

257 

99 

11 

23 

3 

50 

18... 

305 

283 

91 

31 

35 

10 

36.. 

307 

42 

3 

5 

399 

Besides  these  1  vote  was" cast  for  Harrison  on  the  third 
ballot,  1  for  Hayes  on  each  of  the  tenth,  eleventh,  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  ballots,  1  for  McCrary  on  the  thirteenth  and 
1  for  Hartranfton  each  of  the  nineteenth,  twentieth,  twenty- 
first  and  twenty-second  ballots.  Chester  A.  Arthur  was  nom- 
inated on  the  first  ballot  for  Vice-President. 

The  Greenback  or  National  Greenback-Labor  party  took 
'an  active  part  in  the  canvass,  its  convention  being  held  at 
Chicago  on  the  9th  of  June.  The  first  ballot  for  a  presi- 
dential candidate  was  informal  and  resulted  as  follows: 
James  B.  Weaver  224^,  Herrick  B.  Wright  126^,  Stephen 
B.  Dillage  119,  B.  F.  Butler  95,  Solon  Chase  89,  E.  P.  Ahls 


252         HISTORY   OF   ALL   NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 


41,  and  Alexander  Campbell  21.  By  a  change  of  votes  be- 
fore a  result  was  announced  Gen.  Weaver  was  unanimously 
nominated.  Gen.  James  B.  Chambers  was  nominated  for 
Vice-President. 

The  Prohibitionists  met  at  Cleveland  June  17.  The  num- 
ber of  delegates  present  was  142.  The  Rev.  A.  A.  Miner 
was  chosen  permanent  chairman.  Neal  Dow,  of  Maine, 
and  A.  H.  Thompson,  of  Ohio,  were  nominated  for  President 
and  Vice-President  by  a  rising  vote. 

The  Democratic  convention  was  held  at  Cincinnati  June 
22.  It  was  expected  that  Mr.  Tilden  would  be  the  nominee, 
but  two  days  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  convention  he  pub- 
lished a  letter  withdrawing  his  name.  Gen.  Stevenson  was 
chosen  permanent  chairman.  The  platform  declared  for 
"no  sumptuary  laws,  separation  of  church  and  state,  com- 
mon schools  fostered  and  protected,  home  rule,  honest 
money,  consistency  of  gold  and  silver  and  paper  convertible 
into  coin  on  demand,  the  strict  maintenance  of  the  public 
faith,  state  and  national,  and  a  tariff  for  revenue  only." 
Three  ballots  were  taken,  resulting  as  follows: 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

Hancock  .. 
Hendricks 

171 

49  y> 

320 
31 

705J 
30  i 

English  .  .  . 
Morrison 

1 

62 

19 

Bayard 

1537-2 

111 

2 

Seymour 

8 

Tilden 

38 

6 

1 

Payne 

81 

Thurman 

68  V> 

50 

Ewiner.  . 

10 

Field  

65 

65>£ 

McClellan  . 

3 

Randall  .  .  . 

6 

128K 



William  H.  English  was  chosen  for  Vice-President  on 
the  first  ballot. 

The  result  of  the  election  was:  Garfield  and  Arthur  214 
electoral  votes  and  Hancock  and  English  155  electoral 
votes. 

1884. 

The  Republican  national  convention  met  in  Chicago 
June  3.  John  B.  Henderson  was  chosen  permanent  chair- 
man. The  platform  was  reported  by  William  McKinley, 
Jr.,  of  Ohio,  and  contained  the  first  declaration  in  favor  of  a 
protective  tariff  ever  made  by  the  party.  It  was  as  follows: 

"  It  is  the  first  duty  of  a  good  government  to  protect  the 
rights  and  promote  the  interests  of  its  own  people.  The 
largest  diversity  of  industry  is  most  productive  of  general 


HISTORY  OF   ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS,        253 


prosperity  and  of  the  comfort  and  independence  of  the 
people.  We  therefore  demand  that  the  imposition  of  duties 
on  foreign  imports  shall  be  made,  not  for  revenue  only,  but 
that  in  raising  the  requisite  revenues  for  the  government 
such  duties  shall  be  so  levied  as  to  afford  security  to  our 
diversified  industries  and  protection  to  the  rights  and  wages 
of  the  laborer  to  the  end  that  active  and  intelligent  labor, 
as  well  as  capital,  may  have  its  just  reward  and  the  labor- 
ing man  his  full  share  in  the  national  prosperity." 

The  balloting  for  a  presidential  candidate  followed  the 
adoption  of  the  platform  and  resulted  as  follows: 


1 

2 

3 

4 

334^ 

349 

375 

541 

Chester  A.  Arthur  

278 

276 

274 

207 

G.  F.  Edmunds  

93 

85 

69 

41 

John  A.  Logan  

63K 

61 

53 

7 

John  Sherman  

30 

28 

25 

J.  R.  Hawley  

13 

13 

13 

15 

Robert  T.  Lincoln  

4 

4 

8 

2 

W.T.Sherman  

2 

2 

§ 

Gen.  Logan  was  nominated  for  Vice-Pfesident  without 
opposition. 

The  Democrats  met  in  Chicago  July  »,  William  F.  Vilas, 
of  Wisconsin,  being  the  presiding  officer.  The  platform 
stated:  "  We  therefore  denounce  the  abuses  of  the  existing 
tariff,  and,  subject  to  the  pending  limitations,  we  demand 
that  Federal  taxation  shall  be  exclusively  for  public  pur- 
poses and  shall  not  exceed  the  needs  of  the  government 
economically  administered."  The  platform  was  very  long. 
Gen.  Butler  submitted  a  minority  report,  which  was  a  formal 
and  explicit  declaration  in  favor  of  a  protective  tariff,  but 
the  report  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  97 ^  yeas  to  714j^  nays. 
Two  ballots  were  taken  for  presidential  nominee,  which 
stood  as  follows: 


1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

Grover  Cleveland. 

392 

683 

|j.  G.  Carlisle... 

fl7 

T.  F.  Bayard  
Joseph  McDonald 
S.  J.  Randall  
A.  G.  Thurman... 

170 
56 

78 
88 

81  Y2 

!i 

George  Hoadly. 
T.  A.  Hendricks 
S.  J.  Tilden  
[  R.  P.  Flower.  .  . 

3 
1 
1 
4 

'45^ 

17 


254        HISTORY  OF   ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

Mr.  Hendricks  was  nominated  for  Vice-President. 

The  Prohibition  convention  assembled  at  Pittsburg  July 
23,  there  being  416  accredited  delegates  present  from  thirty- 
one  states  and  territories.  Samuel  Dickie,  of  Michigan, 
was  chosen  permanent  chairman.  John  P.  St.  John,  of 
Kansas,  was  nominated  for  President  and  William  Daniel, 
of  Maryland,  for  Vice-President.  The  platform  demanded 
prohibition  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicants,  the 
ballot  for  women,  and  arraigned  both  the  old  parties  for  the 
ills  that  beset  the  people. 

A  national  convention  of  the  Anti-Monopoly  party  met  in 
Chicago  May  14  and  nominated  Benjamin  F.  Butler  for 
President.  The  national  Greenback-Labor  party  met  at  In- 
dianapolis May  27,  and  was  presided  over  by  Gen.  J.  B. 
Weaver.  Gen.  Butler  was  asked  if  he  would  accept  the 
presidential  nomination  from  the  party,  and,  responding  in 
the  affirmative,  he  was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot.  Ab- 
salom M.  West  was  selected  for  the  vice-presidency.  The 
platform  favored  substituting  greenbacks  for  national  bank 
notes,  the  destruction  of  "  land,  railroad,  money  and  other 
gigantic  corporate  monopolies,"  and  favored  raising  the 
revenues  by  duties  on  luxuries.  The  Electoral  College  had 
401  votes,  of  which  Cleveland  and  Hendricks  received  219, 
and  Elaine  and  Logan  182. 


The  Democratic  convention  met  in  St.  Louis  June  5,  and 
organized  with  Patrick  A.  Collins  for  permanent  chairman. 
For  some  time  before  the  meeting  the  renomination  of  Mr. 
Cleveland  was  conceded,  and  the  only  interest  centered  in 
the  vice-presidency.  For  the  second  office  only  two  names 
were  before  the  convention — Isaac  P.  Gray,  of  Indiana,  and 
Allen  G.  Thurman,  of  Ohio.  Mr.  Thurman  was  nominated 
on  the  first  ballot,  receiving  690  votes  to  105  for  Mr.  Gray 
and  25  for  John  C.  Black,  of  Illinois.  (  •>  \ 

The  Republicans  met  at  Chicago  June  19.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  year  it  seemed  probable  that  Mr.  Blaine  would 
be  the  nominee  of  the  convention,  but  on  the  12th  of  Feb- 
ruary, in  a  letter  addressed  by  him  to  B.  F.  Jones,  dated  in 
Florence,  he  said  that  as  personal  reasons  would  prevent 
him  from  entering  the  contest, his  name  "would  not  be  pre- 
sented to  the  convention."  No  serious  efforts  had  been 
made  in  behalf  of  any  candidate  except  John  Sherman, 
whose  nomination  had  been  urged  by  the  Ohio  state  con- 
vention in  July,  1887.  After  the  letter  of  Mr.  Blaine  other 
State  conventions  recommended  the  nomination  of  "favorite 


HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.        255 

sons."  May  30  Mr.  Elaine  wrote  another  letter  in  which  he 
said  that  he  could  not  accept  the  nomination  without  show- 
ing bad  faith  toward  those  candidates  who,  relying  on  his 
former  letter,  were  already  in  the  field,  and  therefore  he 
could  not  accept  at  all.  The  convention  organized  by 
choosing  John  M.  Thurston  temporary  and  M.  Estee  for 
permanent  chairman.  The  platform  was  presented  on  the 
third  day.  On  the  tariff  the  platform  said:  "We  are  un- 
compromisingly in  favor  of  the  American  system  of  protec- 
tion; we  protest  against  its  destruction  as  proposed  by  the 
President  and  his  party.  They  serve  the  interests  of  Europe; 
we  will  support  the  interests  of  America.  We  accept  the 
issue  and  confidently  appeal  to  the  people  for  their  judg- 
ment. The  protective  system  must  be  maintained."  Eight 
ballots  were  taken  in  nominating  a  presidential  candidate. 
as  follows: 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Alger    .  .   . 

84 

116 

199 

185 

143 

187 

120 

100 

Depew  

99 

93 

91 

Gresham  

107 

108 

118 

98 

87 

91 

91 

59 

Hawley  

18 

Phelps  

95 

18 

5 

Sherman  

8?9 

949 

944 

985 

?94 

944 

980 

118 

Lincoln  

8 

9 

1 

9, 

Allison  

79 

75 

78 

88 

99 

78 

76 

Fitler  

94 

. 

Harrison  

85 

91 

94 

916 

919 

981 

979 

544 

ingalls  

98 

16 

Rusk  

95 

90 

18 

Elaine  

85 

88 

85 

42 

48 

40 

15 

5 

McKinley  

9 

3 

8 

11 

19 

16 

4 

Foraker  

1 

Douglas  

1 

14 

.... 

The  vice-presidency  went  to  Levi  P.  Morton  on  the  first 
ballot. 

The  Prohibitionists  met  at  Indianapolis  MaySO  and  or- 
ganized by  choosing  H.  C.  Delano  for  temporary  and  Gen. 
St.  John  for  permanent  chairman.  Gen.  Clinton  B.  Fisk 
was  nominated  for  President  and  John  A.  Brooks  for  Vice- 
President.  Considerable  discussion  arose  over  the  platform, 
especially  upon  the  subject  of  woman  suffrage,  which  was 
decided  in  favor  of  unlimited  suffrage. 


256  HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS. 

The  United  Labor  party  held  its  convention  May  15,  at 
Cincinnati,  274  delegates  being  present.  This  party  was 
formed  February  22, 1887,  at  a  convention  held  in  the  same 
city,  to  which  delegates  had  been  invited  from  the  labor  and 
farmer  organizations, includingKnights  of  Labor, Wheelers, 
the  Corn-growers,  the  Homesteadry,  Farmers'  Alliances, 
Greenbackers  and  Grangers.  The  convention  nominated 
A.  J.  Streeter,  of  Illinois,  for  President  and  C.  E.  Cunning- 
ham, of  Arkansas,  for  Vice-President.  The  platform,  after 
reciting  the  hardships  of  farmers  and  laborers,  declared 
against  land  monopoly,  for  government  ownership  of  rail- 
roads, postal  savings  banks,  free  coinage  of  silver,  arbitra- 
tion in  strike  disputes,  a  service  pension  bill,  a  graduated 
income  tax,  popular  election  of  senators,  exclusion  of  the 
Chinese,  and  female  suffrage. 

The  Union  Labor  convention  was  held  in  Cincinnati  May 
16.  The  party  was  made  up  from  the  Greenbackers,  farm- 
ers' organizations  and  other  labor  reformers.  The  conven- 
tion consisted  of  90  delegates,  representing  nine  states. 
Robert  H.  Cowdrey,  of  Illinois,  was  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent and  W.  H.  T.  Wakefield,  of  Kansas,  for  Vice-President. 
The  platform  demanded  public  ownership  of  land,  taxing 
of  land  according  to  value  instead  of  area,  government  own- 
ership of  railroads  and  telegraphs,  reduction  in  hours  of 
labor,  simplification  of  court  proceedings,  and  denounced 
both  the  old  parties  as  "  hopelessly  and  shamelessly  cor- 
rupt." 

The  national  convention  of  the  American  party  was  held 
at  Washington  August  14, 126  delegates  being  present,  more 
than  half  of  whom  were  from  New  York.  The  opposition 
to  the  dictation  of  New  York  led  to  the  withdrawal  of  25 
delegates  from  other  states.  James  L.  Curtis,  of  New  York, 
was  nominated  for  President  and  James  R.  Greer,  of  Ten- 
nessee, for  Vice-President.  The  platform  demanded  full  cit- 
zenship  as  a  qualification  for  voting,  a  protective  tariff, 
restriction  of  immigration,  repeal  of  naturalization  laws, 
and  denial  of  the  right  of  aliens  to  hold  real  estate.  f 

Several  minor  conventions  were  held  during  the  year. 
The  first  of  these  was  the  industrial  reform  convention  held 
at  Washington,  February  22,  which  nominated  Albert  E. 
Redstone,  of  California,  for  President,  and  John  Colvin,  of 
Kansas,  for  Vice-President.  The  new  party  had  no  support 
at  the  polls  and  cut  no  figure  in  politics.  The  national 
equal  rights  party  was  another  political  nonentity.  It  held 
a  convention  at  Des  Moines,  la.,  May  15,  and  nominated 
Mrs.  Belva  A.*Lockwood,  for  President,  and  A.  H.  Love, 
for  Vice-President.  Mr.  Love  declined  and  Charles  S. 


HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS.          257 

Wells  was  substituted.  A  demand  for  woman  suffrage  and 
equal  rights  of  man  and  woman  was  the  only  important 
feature  of  the  platform.  The  greenbackers  met  at  Cincin- 
nati, September  12,  but  as  only  eight  delegates  were  present, 
no  nominations  were  made.  There  were  401  votes  in  the 
Electoral  College,  and  of  these  Harrison  and  Morton  re- 
ceived 233  and  Cleveland  and  Thurman  168. 

1892. 

The  Republicans  led  off  in  the  conventions  of  1892, 
meeting  at  Minneapolis,  June  7.  J.  Sloat  Fassett  was 
chosen  temporary  and  William  McKinley  permanent 
chairman.  Preceding  the  convention  the  exciting  question 
had  been  as  to  whether  Mr.  Elaine  would  accept  the  nomi- 
nation if  tendered  him.  He  had  previously  addressed  a 
note  to  Mr.  Clarkson  saying  his  name  would  not  go  before 
the  convention,  but  his  friends  declared  he  would  accept 
the  nomination  if  tendered  to  him.  There  was  no  other 
name  mentioned  for  the  nomination  except  that  of  Mr.  Har- 
rison. Mr.  Elaine's  resignation  of  the  secretaryship  of  state 
was  deemed  to  answer  the  question  of  his  acceptance  in  the 
affirmative.  A  question-  arose  early  in  the  convention 
which  settled  the  strength  of  the  two  factions.  Two  re- 
ports from  the  committee  of  credentials  were  presented. 
The  Harrison  men  favored  the  majority  report,  the  Elaine 
men  the  minority  report,  the  former  of  which  was  adopted. 
The  platform  reaffirmed  the  doctrine  of  ultraprotection 
and  will  be  found  complete  among  the  national  platforms. 
Pres  dent  Harrison  was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot,  905 
vot^d  being  cast;  of  these  Harrison  had  535  1-6,  McKinley 
182,  Elaine  181  5-6,  Reid  4,  and  Lincoln  1. 

The  Democrats  met  in  Chicago  June  21.  W.  C.  Owens 
was  made  temporary  and  W.  L.  Wilson  permanent  chair- 
man. The  convention  was  in  many  respects  a  peculiar  one 
in  the  history  of  party  meetings.  It  was  evident  before  the 
convention  that  Mr.  Cleveland  was  the  choice  for  a  large 
majority  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Democratic-  party  and 
that  he  was  opposed  by  the  politicians  of  his  party,  the  bit- 
terest opposition  to  him  being  in  his  own  state.  The  regu- 
lar delegation,  from  that  state  was  unanimous  for  David  B. 
Hill's  nomination  and  in  favor  of  any  candidate  to  beat 
Cleveland.  Only  one  vote  was  taken  in  the  convention. 
The  number  of  delegates  was  910.  The  vote  stood:  Cleve- 
land 617^,  Boies  103,  Hill  114,  Gorman  36^,  Carlisle  14, 
Stevenson  16%,  Morrison  3,  Campbell  2,  Russell  1,  Whit- 
ney 1,  and  Pattison  1.  The  vote  on  Vice-President  stood: 


258          HISTORY  OF  ALL  NOMINATING  CONVENTIONS, 

Stevenson  402,  Gray  843,  Mitchell  45,  Morse  86,  Watterson 
26,  Cockran  5,  Tree  1,  and  Boies  1.  O 

The  Prohibitionists  met  at  Cincinnati  June  29.  Gov. 
St.  John  was  temporary  and  Eli  Ritter  was  permanent 
chairman.  The  important  question  before  the  convention 
was  that  of  fusion  with  some  of  the  new  parties,  but  the 
idea  met  with  no  favor.  Gen.  John  Bidwell  was  nominated 
on  the  first  ballot,  the  vote  standing:  Bidwell  590,  Demorest 
139,  Stewart  179.  The  vote  for  vice-presidential  candidate 
stood:  Cranfill  386,  Levering  380,  Satterlee  26,  Carskadon 
21.  Before  the  vote  was  announced  enough  changes  were 
made  to  give  Cranfill  416,  or  nine  more  than  enough.  Bid- 
well  and  Cranfill  were  declared  the  nominees  of  the  party. 

The  People's  Party  convention  met  at  Omaha  July  4. 
The  permanent  chairman  was  H.  L.  Loucks,  of  South  Da- 
kota. Only  one  ballot  was  taken  for  President  and  was  as 
follows:  Weaver  995,  Kyle  265.  J.  G.  Field  was  nominated 
for  Vice-President  on  the  first  ballot. 

A  convention  of  Socialists  was  held  in  New  York  August 
28.^  The  nominee  for  President  was  Simon  Wing,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  for  Vice-President  Charles  H.  Matchett,  of 
New  York. 


1896. 

The  first  nominating  convention  was  held  by  the  prohibi- 
tionists, May  27,  at  Pittsburg.  For  some  time  there  had  been 
difference  of  opinion  concerning  the  platform.  The  narrow- 
gaugers,  as  they  were  called,  demanded  that  prohibition  be 
the  one  and  only  issue  recognized  in  the  platform.  The 
broad-guagers  just  as  emphatically  protested  and  insisted 
that  free  silver,  woman's  suffrage,  and  other  questions  be 
included.  In  the  adoption  of  the  platform  the  question  of 
free  silver  was  paramount  to  every  other.  The  vote  on  the 
free  silver  plank  was  387  for  and  427  against.  After  the 
rejection  of  this  plank  the  convention  adopted  a  substitute 
in  which  prohibition  was  the  only  question  recognized. 
Joshua  Levering,  of  Maryland,  was  nominated  for  president 
and  Hale  Johnson,  of  Illinois,  for  vice-president.  Mr. 
Samuel  Dickie  was  selected  chairman  of  the  National  Com- 
mittee. A  number  of  "the  free  silver  delegates  with  Gov- 
ernor St.  John  as  their  leader  left  the  convention  and 
organized  the  "  National  Party,"  of  which  Rev.  C.  E.  Bentley 
of  Nebraska,  was  the  nominee  for  president  and  J.  H. 
Sou*hgate  of  North  Carolina,  for  vice-president. 


HISTORY  OF  ALL   POLITICAL  CONVENTIONS.          259 

The  Eleventh  National  Convention  of  the  Republican 
party  was  held  at  St.  Louis,  June  16th.  This  was  the  first 
Republican  convention  held  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  first'  held  in  a  state  that  has  always  been  certainly 
Democratic.  The  pre-eminent  plank  in  the  platform  is  the 
money  plank.  A  gold  standard  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of 
818^  to  110^.  The  platform  declared  for  moderate  pro- 
tection. The  vote  for  candidate  was  as  follows:  McKinley, 
661K;  Reed,84^;  Morton,  58;  Quay,  61^;  Allison,  35^- 

Garret  Hobart  was  nominated  as  Vice-President.  Im- 
mediately after  the  adoption  of  the  currency  plank  Senator 
Teller,  of  Colorado,  made  a  statement  defining  the  position 
of  the  silver  delegates,  whereupon  he  and  thirty-three  other 
delegates  left  the  convention.  Senator  Teller  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Republican  party,  served  as  senator 
for  a  number  of  terms,  and  was  respected  even  by  those 
who  differed  from  him.  His  speech  before  the  convention 
is  described  as  an  affecting  one,  tears  rollinep  down  his 
cheeks  as  he  bade  his  party  good-bye. 

Mr.  McKinley's  nomination  was  universally  approved 
and  received  with  much  enthusiasm  throughout  the  coun- 
try. Mr.  Mark  Hanna,  who  managed  Mr.  McKinley's  can- 
vass, was  appointed  Chairman  of  the  National  Committee. 

Before  the  meeting  of  the  Democratic  Convention  in 
Chicago,  July  7th,  it  was  known  that  the  silver  men  had 
more  than  a  majority.  Some  of  the  silver  delegates  urged 
the  nomination  of  Senator  Teller,  who  recently  bolted  the 
Republican  party,  while  others  opposed  the  measure. 
Chairman  Harrity  called  the  convention  to  order  and  by 
direction  of  the  National  Committee  reported  Senator  Hill, 
of  New  York,  for  temporary  chairman.  The  silver  men 
were  too  anxious  for  victory  to  permit  a  "gold  man,"  aC 
they  termed  him,  to  be  even  temporary  chairman,  and  nom- 
inated John  W.  Daniel  as  temporary  chairman. 

No  appeal  on  the  part  or  the  gold  standard  men  for 
chivalrous,  courteous,  judicious  treatment  on  the  part  of  the 
majority,  no  pleading  not  to  violate  tradition,  no  concession, 
would  satisfy  the  majority.  Daniel  was  elected  by  a  vote  of 
556  to  349,  Senator  Hill  not  voting.  It  was  very  evident 
from  the  first  that  the  gold  men  had  no  rights  which  the 
silver  men  were  inclined  to  respect.  The  silver  men 
seemed  to  be  intoxicated  by  their  victory,  and  no  eloquent 
pleadings  could  prevent  them  from  seating  their  delegates 
m  contested  cases.  Stephen  White,  of  California,  was 
chosen  permanent  chairman.  The  platform  declared  for 
free  silver.  Eloquent  speeches  were  delivered  on  both 
sides.  The  gold  democrats  charged  gallantly  upon  the 


HISTORY   OF   ALL   POLITICAL   CONVENTIONS. 


convention.  The  silver  men  stood  firmly  to  their  guns. 
W.  J.  Bryan,  an  ex-Congressman  from  Nebraska,  in  closing 
a  masterly  address  in  favor  of  free  siver  said,  "  We  answer 
the  demands  for  a  gold  standard  by  saying  you  shall  not 
press  down  upon  the  brow  of  labor  this  crown  of  thorns. 
You  shall  not  crucify  mankind  upon  a  cross  of  gold."  The 
most  dramatic  scene  in  the  history  of  the  convention  en- 
sued. Mr.  Bryan  became  the  man  of  the  hour  and  stood  in 
the  front  rank  of  the  possible  presidential  candidates.  The 
platform  adopted  satisfied  the  most  radical  of  silver  men. 

A  number  of  delegations  where  the  gold  men  were  in  the 
majority  concluded  not  to  bolt  the  convention,  but  to  ab- 
stain from  voting  for  candidates.  The  result  of  the  ballots 
is  as  follows: 


Bland    

1 

9f¥\ 

2 

?81 

3 

?91 

4 

241 

1 

2 

2 

3 

4 

Boies....  

86 

37 

36 

83 

Russell  .     . 

2 

*  * 

"  ' 

*  * 

Matthews  

K7 

ft4 

81 

36 

Stevenson 

9 

10 

9 

McLean  

54 

53 

54 

46 

Tillman  ..  . 

17 

105 

1P7 

?,19 

280 

Hill 

1 

1 

1 

Blackburn  

88 

4 

?7 

Teller 

8 

3 

Pattison  . 

95 

100 

97 

"" 

10 

* 

votinc.  .  .  , 

185 

160 

1fifl 

1fiB 

Before  the  fifth  ballot  was  completed  the  McLean  and 
Bland  men,  realizing  the  inevitable,  withdrew  the  names  of 
their  respective  candidates,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  storm 
of  wild  enthusiasm  Bryan  was  unanimously  nominated. 
Arthur  SewaH,of  Maine,  was  nominated  for  Vice-President. 

William  E.  Russell,  who  had  been  elected  governor  of 
Massachusetts  for  three  times  and  who  stood  in  the  front 
ranks  of  the  Democracy  of  New  England,  made  an  earnest 
protest  against  the  adoption  of  the  silver  platform.  The 
following  week  he  died  very  suddenly,  although  not  yet 
forty  years  ol'd.  As  this  was  his  last  speech  we  here  give 
extracts  from  it. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Members  of  this  Convention:  I  have 
but  one  word  to  say.  The  time  is  past  for  debate  upon  the 
merits  of  this  issue.  I  am  conscious,  painfully  conscious, 
that  the  mind  of  this  convention  is  not  and  has  not  been 
open  to  argument  and  reason.  I  know  that  the  will  of  its 
great  majority,  which  has  seen  fit  to  override  precedent,  to 
trample  down  rights,  to  attack  the  sovereignty  of  states,  is 
to  be  rigidly  enforced,  I  know  that  an  appeal  even  will  fall 
upon  deaf  ears  There  is  but  one  thing  left  to  us,  and  that, 
the  voice  of  protest,  and  that  voice  I  raise,  not  in  bitterness, 
aot  questioning  the  sincerity,  the  honesty,  of  any  Democtat; 
that  voice  I  utter  with  a  feeling  of  infinite  sorrow.  And, 
mark  me,  my  friends,  the  country,  our  country,  if  not  this 


THE  POLITICAL  LANDSLIDES.  961 

convention,  will  listen  to  our  protest.  I  speak  for  one  of 
the  smallest  states  of  this  Union;  not  great  in  territory  or 
population;  not  prominent  in  her  material  resources,  but 
glorious  in  her  history;  great  in  her  character, in  her  loyalty 
to  truth,  in  her  devotion  to  principle  and  duty,  and  in  the 
sacrifices  she  has  willingly  made  for  independence,  liberty, 
and  our  country.  That  state  has  taught  us,  her  children,  to 
place  principle  above  expediency;  courage  above  time- 
serving, and  patriotism  above  party.  And  in  the  cause  of 
justice  and  of  right  not  to  flinch,  no  matter  how  great  the 
majority  or  how  overbearing  may  be  its  demands. 

We  did  not  think  that  we  should  live  to  see  the  time 
when  these  great  Democratic  principles  which  have 
triumphed  over  Republicanism  should  be  forgotten  in  a 
Democratic  convention,  and  we  should  be  invited  under 
new  and  radical  leadership  to  a  new  and  radical  policy; 
that  we  should  be  asked  to  give  up  vital  principles  for 
which  we  have  labored  and  suffered — repudiate  Democratic 
platforms  and  administrations,  and  at  the  demands  of  a 
section  urging  expediency,  be  asked  to  adopt  a  policy 
which  many  of  us  believe  invites  peril  to  our  country  and 
disaster  to  our  party. 

"  Oh,  that  from  this  great  majority,  with  its  power,  there 
might  come  the  one  word  of  concession  and  conciliation! 
Oh,  that  from  you  there  might  be  held  out  the  olive  branch 
of  peace,  under  which  all  Democrats  united  could  rally  to  a 
great  victory." 

The  Populists  met  at  St.  Louis,  July  24,  and  after  many 
very  exciting  scenes,  nominated  Wm.  J.  Bryan,  for  Presi- 
dent, and  Thomas  E.  Watson,  of  Georgia,  for  Vice  President. 

The  financial  question  was  uppermost,  although  Coxey 
and  others  attempted  to  press  their  different  hobbies  to  the 
front. 


The  Political  Landslides  of  American 
History. 

1.  Changes  in  Controlling  Party. — It  sometimes  occurs 
that  a  party  that  has  been  put  in  power  of  the  government 
by  a  decided  majority,  is  overturned  at  the  next  election  by 
as  great  or  even  greater  majorities.    The  result  is  called  a 
"landslide." 

2.  Not  Uncommon  in  Our  History.— Although  the  word 
is  new  in  that  sense  the  thing  itself  has  not  been  uncommon 

18 


282  THE   POLITICAL   LANDSLIDES. 

in  our  history.  Jefferson  was  elected  by  a  narrow  majority 
in  1800.  Four  years  later  three  states  only  gave  electoral 
votes  against  him. 

3.  Election  of  President  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives.— In  1824  the  country  was  so  closely  divided  that  the 
election  of  the  President  was  thrown  into  the  House  of 
Representatives.     In  1828  more  than  five-sixths  of  the  elect- 
oral votes  outside  of  New  England  were  for  Jackson.    The 
Harrison  campaign  of  1840  was  followed  by  a  memorable 
"landslide."     No  less  than  nine  states  which  Van  Buren 
had  carried  in  1836  voted  for  Harrison. 

4.  General  Taylor. — General  Taylor  was  elected  by  the 
Whigs  in  1848  by  a  large  plurality  on  the  popular  vote  and 
by  a  majority  of  thirty-six  of  the  electors.    In  1852  Franklin 
Pierce,  the  Democratic  candidate,  had  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
million  plurality  of  popular  votes,  and  carried  all  the  states 
but  four.    The  vote  of  the  electors  was  more  than  six  to  one 
in  his  favor. 

5.  General  Grant. — Coming  to  more  recent  times.  Gen- 
eral Grant  was  elected  President  for  a  second  term  in  1872 
by  a  popular  majority  of  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  mill- 
ion votes,  and  carried  thirty  of  the  thirty-seven  states.     In 
1874  the  Democrats  were  everywhere  successful,  and  car- 
ried the  House  of  Representatives  by  a  large  majority. 

6.  Great  Change. — Then,  in  1888,  Harrison  was  elected 
President  by  sixty- five  majority  of  the  electoral  votes;  but 
HI  1890  the  Democrats  carried  Congress  by  almost  three  to 
one.    The  House  of  Representatives,  elected  in  1892,  con- 
tained a  Democratic  majority  of  about  eighty,  and  that 
which  was  elected  in  1894  is  controlled  by  the  Republicans 
by  a  majority  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-three. 

7.  The  November  Election  of  1894. — The  November 
election  of  1894  resulted  in  an  overwhelming  Republican 
victory.    Throughout  the  North  the  Republicans  carried 
the  states  usually  classed  as  doubtful  by  decided  majori- 
ties; those  which  rank  as  Republican  states  gave  majori- 
ties so  enormous  as  to  be  compared  with  those  only  which 
were  given  during  and  just  after  the  Civil  war.    In  some 
cases  the  majorities  were  the  largest  ever  recorded  for  the 
party. 

8.  In  the  South. — In  the  South  the  Democrats  were 
much  more  successful  than  in  the  North.    But  even  there 
large  inroads  were  made  upon  their  majorities,  and  one  or 
two  states  gave  Republican  majorities  for  the  first  time 
since  the  days  of  "  Reconstruction." 


263 


NO  THANKSGIVING  HERE-i892. 
Farmer  Ben:    "Great  gosh,  the  turkey's  gonel" 

The  Landslide  of  1892. 

Each  party  has  its  own  explanation  of  the  event.  Each 
having  in  its  time  experienced  both  reverses  and  vic- 
tories, understands  that  what  now  seems  a  most  emphatic 
popular  verdict  may  be  reversed  at  the  very  next  election. 

9.  Not  Good  for  the  Country. — No  one  can  think  that 
the  sudden  and  violent  party  changes  to  which  the  country 
is  subject  are-  conducive  to  its  political  health  and  its  ma- 
terial prosperity;    nevertheless  we  must  expect  them  to 
occur  occasionally. 

10.  Changes  of  Political  Issues. — Changes  of  political 
issues,  and  the  conditions  incident  to  a  large  and  increasing 
foreign  element  in  the  population,  have  something  to  do  in 
producing  them.    The  caprice  of  a  large  number  of  men  who 
are  not  sufficiently  well  instructed  to  have  decided  views 
on  the  great  financial  questions  upon  which  parties  are  now 
divided,  cause  the  most  of  the  shifting  of  votes  from  o»« 
side  to  the  other.  264 


265 


ELECTION 


A  SUDDEN  CHANGE  IN  THE  ELECTION  RETURNS. 

266 


THE   SPOILS   SYSTEM   IN  AMERICAN   POLITICS.          26t 


The  Spoils  System  in  American  Poli- 
tics. 

The  election  of  officers  is  secured  by  the  united  action 
of  the  voters — not  all  the  voters.  Hence  the  persons  elected 
ordinarily  feel  indebted  to  certain  active  men  of  the  com- 
munity and  if  they  do  not  do  all  in  their  power  as  a  public 
officer  to  reward  their  supporters,  they  are  looked  upon  as 
ungrateful.  Thus  has  grown  up  a  system  of  vassalage,  or  a 
feudal  tenure  of  office.  In  this  way,  after  parties  have  come 
into  power,  their  ability  to  dispose  of  patronage  acts  as  a 
cement  to  keep  the  party  together. 

1.  Loaves  and  Fishes. — As  soon  as  a  party  succeeds  in 
electing  its  candidate  to  office   there  are  plenty  within  its 
ranks  to  look  about  for  loaves  and  fishes.    And  the  more 
power  the  officer  has  to  distribute  good  things  by  creating 
or  filling  vacancies  in  minor  offices,  the  more  he  is  besieged 
and  the  more  likely  he  is  to  serve  his  party  rather  than  the 
people  in  the  administration  of  his  office.    The  result  of  the 
spoils  system  is  that  many  elections,  involving  no  policy  of 
government  except  the  honesty  and  ability  of  the  candidates, 
degenerate  into  desperate  struggles  between  members  of 
two  parties  for  a  means  of  livelihood.    In  any  consideration 
of  the  spoils  system  it  is  important  to  examine  its  cloak. 

2.  The  Curse  of  National  Politics. — How  absurd  it  is 
to  drag  national  politics  into  local  elections;  to  elect  a  mayor 
because  he  favors  tariff  reform  or  to  defeat  a  candidate  for 
constable  because  he  thinks  the  national  government  should 
enter  upon  the  free  coinage  of  silver.    Such  a  practice  caa- 
not  be  excused  except  from  a  party  standpoint.    For  it  I  can 
see  but  two  motives:  first,  the  securing  of  office  and  patron- 
age as  spoils  and,  second,  the  holding  of  voters  together  so 
that  they  can  be  relied  upon  when  national  issues  do  arise. 

In  this  way  many  a  person  who  would  be  the  choice  of 
the  people  to  perform  the  duties  of  an  office  has  been 
defeated,  much  to  the  detriment  of  the  public  service.  The 
existence  of  these  facts  indicates  a  weakness  in  our  elec- 
tion machinery  which  should  not  be  overlooked  by  the 
voters  of  this  tree  land  of  ours. 


268         THE   SPOILS  SYSTEM   IN   AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


The  Ward  Heeler  Demanding  a  Contribution  for  Politi- 
cal Purposes. 


3.  Bribery  and  Corruption. — By  the  use  of  the  Aus- 
tralian system  of  voting,  the  danger  of  bribery  and  corrup- 
tion in  elections  has  been  overcome  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent. The  secrecy  enforced  in  voting  is  the  point  of  safety. 


BEFORE  ELECTION. 
The  Politician  is  Pleased  to  See  Mr.  Jones. 


18 


269 


THE  SPOILS  SYSTEM  IN  AMERICAN  POLITICS.        271 


By  that  simple  device  the  would-be  purchaser  of 
deprived  of  the  means  of  absolute  certainty  that  t 


a  vote  is 
the  vender 

of  "a  vote  voted  according  to  contract.  But,  notwithstand- 
ing the  secrecy  incident  to  voting,  practical  politicians 
assert  that  many  votes  are  still  bought.  Probably  the  in- 
struments now  most  conducive  to  the  purchase  and  sale 
'of  votes  are  the  separate  party  ballots  and  the  paster 
ballot.  But  as  these  are  already  in  much  disfavor,  it  is  to 
be  hoped  they  will  soon  disappear. 

4.  Trading  Votes. — "If  you  will  vote  my  ticket    for 
mayor,  I  will  vote  your  ticket  for  governor."    How  often  is 
such  a  proposition  made  and  accepted  between  voters  of 

§ood  standing  in  the  community,  but  of  opposite  politics! 
uch  a  transaction  does  not  come  within  the  statute  relat- 
ing to  bribery;  but  I  do  not  believe  it  can  be  defended  from 
an  ethical  point  of  view.  If  as  is  generally  conceded,  the 
state  can  rightfully  claim  that  it  is  the  duty  of  citizens  to 
vote,  it  necessarily  follows  that  each  voter  is  under  obliga- 
tions to  pass  upon  each  matter  according  to  his  best  judg- 
ment. What  would  be  thought  of  a  judge  if  he  should  an- 
nounce that  he  would  decide  a  certain  case  upon  the  merits 
of  some  other?  If  judges  cannot  properly  trade  decisions, 
voters  should  not  trade  votes. 

5.  Parties  as  They  are  Managed. — Parties  go  on  con* 
tending  because  their  members  have  formed  a  habit  of  joint 
action,  and  have  contracted  hatred  and  prejudices  and  also 
because  the  leaders  find  it  to  their  advantage  in  using  these 
habits  and  playing  upon  these  prejudices.    The  American 
parties  continue  to  exist  because  they  have  existed.    The 
mill  has  been  constructed  and  the  machinery  goes  on  turn- 
ing, even  where  there  is  no  grist  to  grind.    But  this  is  not 
wholly  the  fault  of  the  men,  for  the  system  of  government 
requires  parties  just  as  that  of  England  does.    These  sys- 
tems are  made  to  be  worked,  and  always  have  been  worked 
by  a  majority.    The  majority  must  be  cohesive,  gathered 
into  a  united  and  organized  body.    Such  a  body  is  a  party. 

6.  The  Political  Boss. — "The  evil  to  be  remedied  is  the 
dictation  of  the  political  boss.    As  parties  are  now  consti- 
tuted, nominatioi.s  are  made,  not  by  the  community  or  any 
considerable  portion  of  it,  but  by  a  single  man,  who  for  the 
time  being  is  in  control  of  the  party  machine.    No  man  can 
hold  office  except  by  the  consent  of  such  a  boss,  and  when 
rebelled  against  it  means  defeat.     I  know  of  no  remedy  for 
this  state  of  things  because  the  public  stand  idly  by  antf 
permit  the  dictation,  and  seem  rather  to  enjoy  the  results 
of  it.    Education  and   intelligence  have  always  been  put 
forward  as  the  proper  antidotes  for  political  evils,  but  my 


272 


THE   SPOILS   SYSTEM    IN   AMERICAN   POLITICS. 


observation  leads  me  to  think  that  the  educated  portion  ol 
the  community  is  more  apt  to  follow  the  machine  than  any 
other  portion  of  it,  because  the  uneducated  can  be  pur- 
chased, while  the  enlightened  are  probably  beyond  the 
reach  of  that  temptation." 

7.  The  Remedy. — In  order  to  make  effective  the  rem- 
edy it  seems  to  be  necessary  for  citizens  to  devote  not  only 
a  considerable  portion  of  their  time,  but  to  do  so  in  an  em- 
ployment which  is  not  congenial  to  their  tastes.  That  it  is 
the  duty  of  each  citizen  to  given  a  reasonable  amount  of  his 
time  and  to  expend  a  reasonable  amount  of  energy  in  secur- 
ing proper  nominations  to  public  office  all  will  admit. 
Each  citizen  undoubtedly  owes  this  duty  to  the  state,  and 
owing  to  this  duty  to  the  state,  the  state  in  turn  is  obligated 
to  furnish  him  with  the  means  whereby  the  time  and  energy 
which  duty  requires  him  to  give  shall  be  expended  in  a 
manner  that  shall  make  his  efforts  felt  in  the  result.  .It 
cannot  justly  require  him  to  give  up  a  large  portion  of  his 
time  and  require  him  to  study  and  practice  what  has  be- 
come a  profession  in  order  that  his  influence  shall  be  felt  in 
making  nominations.  The  state  has  also  a  duty  to  the 
citizen  growing  out  of  the  fact  that  it  prints  the  ballots.  It 
should  see  to  it  that  the  names  of  candidates  which  it  prints 
upon  the  ballots  to  be  cast  by  the  voter  are  not  chosen 
through  fraud  and  trickery.  As  it  is  useless  for  a  single  in- 
dividual to  go  to  the  polls  without  prior  organization  in 
the  hope  of  electing  an  independent  candidate  to  office, 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  state  to  see  to  it  that  the  organi- 
zations among  voters,  so  far  as  they  operate  to  place 
candidates  in  nomination,  conform  to  fair  and  reasonable 
rules. 


The  Politicians  Fixing  up  a  Ticket. 


Filibustering  or  Legislative    Obstructions.          273 

Filibustering  or  Legislative  Obstruc- 
tions. 

1.  There  are  Many  Good  Things  in  the  law-making 
powers  of    our  national  government,  and  there  are  many 
things  that  can  be  greatly  improved. 

2.  Party  Prejudices. — When  a  party  is  in  power   it 
should  have  the  right  to  make  laws  without  serious  legisla- 
tive obstruction.    The  people  have  placed  their  representa- 
tives in  power  to  make  the  laws  and  will  hold  them  respon- 
sible.   But  the  system  of  American  politics  is  greatly  in  error 
as  to  the  rights  of  the  minority.    The  minority  in  our  legisla- 
tive bodies  instead  of  recognizing  the  rights  of  a  majority, 
do  everything  possible  to  defeat  or  obstruct  legislation.     If 
the  majority  has  the  right  to  rule,  no  minority  has  a  right  to 
obstruct  or  embarrass  their  work.     If  the  people  elect  the 
majority  to  make  laws,  the  minority  has  no  right  whatever 
to  defeat  the  will  of  the  people. 

3.  Obstruction. — All    minorities    practice    obstruction 
more  or  less,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  draw  the  line  between 
proper  and  improper  use  of  this  weapon  of  defense.   Men  are 
apt  to  approve  its  use  when  it  is  employed  by  their  own  party 
friends,  and  to  condemn  it   when  used  by   the  opposite 
party. 

4.  The  Right  of  Petition. — On  several  occasions,  half 
a  century  ago,  John  Quincy  Adams  stood  almost  or  quite 
alone  in  the  House  of  Representatives  maintaining    the 
right  of  petition,  and  defying  the  majority  to  silence  him. 
He  once  forced  his  opponents  to  abandon  an  attempt  to  pass 
a  resolution  of  censure  against  him,  by  occupying  nearly  a 
week  of  the  session  in  a  speech  of  defence.     Indeed,  he 
seemed  unlikely  to  close  his  "few  remarks"  in  time  to  allow 
any  business  to  be  done.     Perhaps  in  so  doing  he  performed 
a  useful  service  which  could  have  been  performed  in  no 
other  way.    At  all  events,  those  who  admire  "the  old  man 
eloquent"  praise  and  do  not  censure  him  for  his  unyielding 
course  of  obstruction. 

5.  Gag. — There    may    be   a    question    if,    when    the 
"gag"  is  applied  by  an  arbitrary  majority  in    disregard 
to  all  rights  of  debate,  it    is   not   justifiable  to  continue 
obstruction  long  enough  to  attract    public    attention    to 
the  matter;  since  in  such  a  case  that  is  the  only  method  of 
protest  left. 

6.  Long  Continued  Obstruction. — But,  on  a  broad  view 
of  the  subject,  long  continued  obstruction  is  to  be  condemned 
severely,  whether  it  is  practiced  by  our  friends  or  by  our 


774    FILIBUSTERING  OR   LEGISLATIVE   OBSTRUCTIONS. 

opponents.  Of  course  an  arbitrary  refusal  of  the  majority 
to  allow  the  minority  reasonable  time  for  debate  is  equally 
to  be  condemned. 

7.  Determined  Minority. — It  has  been  shown  by  the 
recent  events  that  a  determined  minority  may  block  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Senate  indefinitely.   It  was  only  when  the  minority 
became  divided  on  the  policy  of  obstruction,  and  a  few  only 
were  disposed  to  continue  the  struggle,  that  a  vote  was" 
reached. 

8.  Majority  Should  Govern. — Since  it  is  the  business  of 
a  Legislature  to  pass  laws,  and  since  in  every  free  nation  the 
majority  should  govern,  it  is  simply  common  sense  to  say 
that  a  system  of  rules  which  permits  a  minority  to  frustrate 
the  will  of  the  majority  is  not  a  good  system.    This  is 
neither  a  partial  nor  a  partisan  opinion.    If  it  works  against 
one  party  to-day  it  will  work  in  that  party's  favor  when  it 
obtains  a  majority. 

9.  The  Caucus. — The  caucus  is  an  American  institu- 
tion, and  is  unknown  outside  of  the  United  States,  except  in  a 
modified  form  in  England  and  Canada.    The  nominating 
convention,  made  up  of  delegates  chosen  in  primary  party 
meetings,  does  not  exist  except  in  this  country.    And  while 
parties  are  known  all  over  the  world,  it  is  only'in  some  parts 
of  this  country  that  they  have  a  recognized  standing.     In 
Massachusetts,  and  perhaps  in  other  states,  party  caucuses 
are  conducted  according  to  a  specific  act,  and  the  law  pro- 
tects those  who  have  rights  in  a  party  meeting  from  those 
who,  without  right,  might  try  to  control  it. 

10.  Popular  Initiative.— We  can  hardly  suppose  that 
the  machinery  of  government  has  even  yet  been  perfected. 
There  is  a  proposition  to  introduce  here  the  systems  in  vogue 
in  Switzerland  known  as  the  referendum  and  the  "  popular 
initiative."    By  the  first  of  these  systems  a  law  passed  by 
the  Legislature  is,  under  certain  circumstances,  referred  to 
popular  vote.    Of  course  a  law  ratified  by  the  people  h,is 
more  force  and  is  less  liable  to  repeal  than  one  not  ratified. 

11.  Decision  of  the  People. — The  "popular  initiative" 
gives  to  a  certain  number  of  voters  asking  for  it  the  right 
to  demand  a  popular  vote  upon  a  law.     In  Switzerland, 
when  thirty  thousand  citizens  petition  for  a  vote  upon  the 
revision  of  the  law,  such  a  vote  must  be  had,  and  the  decis- 
ion   of  the  people  is  final.    Fifty  thousand  citizens  may 
require  a  popular  vote  throughout  the  republic  upon  a  prop- 
osition to  amend  the  Constitution.    The  principle  or   the 
popular  initiative  has  always  been  a  part  of  the  New  Eng- 
land town  meeting  system,  but  has  never  extended  beyond 
it  even  to  the  county  government. 


GERRYMANDERING.  275 

12.  Improvement. — And  if  those  two  principles  should  be 
adopted  by  and  by,  are  we  even  then  at  the  end?  Certainly 
not  Let  us  suggest  one  direction  in  which  an  improvement 
may  come.  There  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why,  in  these 
days  of  quick  communication,  voting  should  not  be  done  by 
mail  instead  of  by  the  personal  presence  of  the  voter  at  the 
polls.  Vast  harm  is  done  because  men  entitled  to  vote 
cannot  do  so  or  will  not  take  the  troublet  It  will  be  easy  to 
devise  a  system  that  will  render  voting  by  mail  safe  to  the 
great  advantage  of  good  government. 

Gerrymandering  and  its  Effects  Upon 
Legislation. 

1.  Provisions   of  State  Constitutions. — The  constitu- 
tions of  states  of  the  Union  usually  fix  the  number  of  mem- 
bers to  be  chosen  for  the  state  Legislature.    But  it  is  left 
with  the  Legislature  itself  to  divide  the  state  into  districts, 
in  each  of  which  the  voters  shall  elect  one  or  more  mem- 
bers. 

Since  population  will  naturally  increase  more  rapidly  in 
some  parts  of  a  state  than  in  others,  it  follows  that  the  dis- 
tricts must  be  changed  from  time  to  time  in  order  that  each 
member  of  the  Legislature  may  represent,  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible, the  same  number  of  voters. 

2.  Contiguous  Territory. — No  rule  is  made  in  the  State 
constitution  as  to  the  method  of  mapping  out  the  districts. 
Most  states  require  that  all  districts  shall  be  fixed  inside 
of  county  lines,  and  that  a  single  district  be  made  up  of 
"contiguous"  territory.     Otherwise    the  Legislature    may 
draw  up  the  district  map  as  it  pleases.     It  was  long  ago 
discovered  that  this  power  might  be  turned  to  partisan  use. 
Some  sections  or  neighborhoods  will  always  cast  a  large 
majority  for  one  party,  when  close  at  hand  there  may  be 
sections  which  invariably  give  a  majority  to  the  other  party. 

3.  Injustice  to  the  Voters. — Now  if  the  Democrats,  for 
example,  can  combine  into  one  district  as  many  sure  Re- 
publican neighborhoods  as  possible,  and  then  arrange  the 
neighboring  districts  so  that  in  each  district  there  shall  be  just 
enough  Democratic  voters  to  counterbalance  the  Repub- 
licans in  the  same  district,  it   is  clear  that  the  Democrats 
will  have  the  advantage.    The  Republicans  might  carry  the 
first  district  by  10,000  majority,  and  the  Democrats  get  only 
1,000  majority  in  each  of  three  other  districts.    The  Repub- 
licans would  cast  more  votes,  but  the  Democrats  would  elect 
more  members,  and  thus  control  the  state  legislation.     If 
then  a  Legislature  making  a  new  "  apportionment "  of  the 
state  is  strongly  partisan,  it  has  an  opportunity  to  take 
advantage  for  its  party  for  the  ensuing  elections. 


276 


GERRYMANDERING, 


-GERRYMANDERING.- 
Figuringf  Out  the  Other  Fellows. 

4.  Origin  of  tne  Name. — This  practice  is  known  as 
"gerrymandering"  a  state,  and  the  origin  of  the  name  is 
curious.  As  long  ago  as  1811,  the  Democratic  majority  in 
the  Massachusetts  Legislature  passed  a  law  "redistrictmg" 
the  state  for  senators,  with  very  irregular  district  bound- 
aries. The  governor  who  signed  the  bill  was  Elbridge 
Gerry.  One  district  in  Essex  County  stretched  from  Boston 
to  the  New  Hampshire  boundary. 


FIRST  GERRYMANDER  DISTRICT. 
Eastern  Massachusetts. 


377 


278  GERRYMANDERING. 

Gilbert  Stuart,  the  famous  painter,  sketched  on  the  map 
the  outline  of  the  district,  and  added  eyes  ana  claws  to  the 
figure,  so  that  it  seemed  like  the  picture  of  a  strange  winged 
beast. 

"  It  looks,"  said  Stuart  to  a  Boston  editor,  "  like  a  sala- 
mander." 

"Salamander!"  cried  the  editor;  "call  it  Gerrymander!" 
and  Gerrymander  it  has  been  called  from  that  day  to  this. 

5.  Many    Famous    Cases. — There   have   been    many 
famous  cases  of  unjust  gerrymandering,  where  states  have 
been  so  divided  as  to  elect  the  officers  of  one  party,  when 
the  other  had  a  large  majority  of  the  total  vote.     Both  polit- 
ical parties  have  in  turn  taken  advantage  of  the  expedient 
and  an  unfair  division  of  a  state  by  one  party  has  often 
been  followed,  when  the  control  of  the  Legislature  changed, 
by  an  equally  unjust  "  redistricting  "  in  favor  of  the  other 
side. 

States  such  as  Ohio  and  New  York,  where  neither  party 
is  permanently  in  control,  have  had  their  district  map 
altered  at  most  frequent  intervals  and  in  the  most  remarka- 
ble way.  The  famous  "Shoestring "  congressional  district 
of  Mississippi  was  a  thin  strip  of  territory  reaching  from 
the  north  to  the  south  boundary  of  the  state. 

6.  Unfair  Gerrymandering. — By  some  politicians  gerry- 
mandering is  regarded  as  a  perfectly  fair  means  of  secur- 
ing partisan  advantage.    But  the  better  class  of  political 
leaders  do  not  hesitate  to  denounce  it. 

Unfair  Gerrymandering,  moreover,  has  lately  received  a 
severe  blow  from  the  courts.  In  Wisconsin  the  party  in 
power  had  passed  a  law  dividing  the  state,  irrespective  of 
county  lines,  so  as  to  make  apparently  sure  for  themselves 
a  permanent  majority.  But  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state 
declared  the  law  unconstitutional,  because  the  state  consti- 
tution makes  a  restriction  on  the  general  method  of  form- 
ing the  districts  by  requiring  that  county  lines  be  followed. 

The  Legislature  might  cut  a  county  into  congressional 
districts  on  any  plan  it  chose,  but  it  could  not  combine  into 
one  district  voters  situated  in  two  different  counties.  For- 
tunately for  fair  elections  a  large  proportion  of  the  state 
constitutions  contain  precisely  this  useful  limitation. 


FIRST  ADMINISTRATION.  279 

First  Administration. 

POLITICAL  ISSUES  AND  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

1.  The  First  Cabinet. — Washington  appointed  for  his 
Cabinet,  Alexander   Hamilton  for  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment; General  Henry  Knox  for  the  War   Department;  and 
John  Jay  for  Chief  Justice   of  the   Supreme   Court,  all  of 
whom  were  Federalists.    Thomas  Jefferson  was  appointed 
Secretary  of  State,  and  Edmund  Randolph  for  Attorney 
General,  both  of  whom  were  Anti-Federalists. 

2.  The  First  Extra  Session  of  Congress. — During  an 
extra  session  of  Congress,  called  for  pressing  business,  ten 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  were  made,  the  chief  de- 
sign of  which  was  to  vouchsafe  broader  principles  of  free- 
dom than  the  Federal  party  had  conceded  or  even  intended; 
freedom  not  having  been  guaranteed  by  the  original  word- 
ing of  this  instrument,  all  of  which,  in  the  estimation  of  the 
Anti-Federalists  were   necessary,  as  a  safe  guard  against 
monarchy.    An  act  regulating  commerce  and  a  tariff  bill 
were  passed  at  this  session;  the  latter  being  barely  sufficient 
for  a  revenue,  though  it  was  ostensibly  for  protection  as 
well. 

3.  First  Regular  Session. — The  next  regular  Congress 
met  at  Philadelphia,  March  4,  1790.     It  was  the  first  regular 
session,  and  began  the  work  of  bringing  the  elements  of  a 
nation  into  practical  working  order.   Thefinarcial  question 
was  the  most  important  issue  to  meet.      The  debts  due 
France  must  be  paid  in  full.    The  domestic  debt  was  also 
equally  binding  on  the  honor  of  the  nation,  but  besides 
these  were  the  debts  due  various  other  States. 

The  Burden  of  Debt. — How  to  provide  for  the  liquidation 
of  these  was  a  difficult  thing,  and  seemed  to  set  at  de- 
fiance the  doctrine  of  state  rights,  so  dearly  prized  by  the 
Anti-Federalists.  If  the  United  States  assumed  them,  it  was 
taking  business  out  of  the  State  that  had  contracted  them. 
The  Federalists  were  in  favor  of  the  United  States  assuming 
the  responsibility  of  these  debts  regardless  of  the  state 
rights  doctrine.  The  Anti-Federalists  would  not  consent  to 
this,  but  the  issue  was  finally  decided  by  two  Anti-Federalists 
deserting  their  party  and  voting  on  the  other  side,  which 
arbitrarily  settled  a  question  that  had  come  as  a  necessity 
and  no  other  way  for  whose  solution  seemed  possible,  though 
done  by  what  was  termed  a  loose  construction  of  the  bind- 
ing forces  of  toe  Constitution,  which  could  hardly  be  con* 


280 


FIRST  ADMINISTRATION. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

Born  in  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia,  February  22, 1732 

President  April  30,  1789-March  4, 1797. 
Died  at  Mt.  Vernon,  Virginia,  December  14,  1799. 

sidered  in  any  other  light  than  a  violation  of  that  sacred 
instrument,  but  it  was  claimed  that  the  end  justified  the 
means,  and  the  best  apology  for  it  was  that  it  partook  of 
the  necessities  characteristic  of  war  measures  to  practically 
control  the  States,  though  unconstitutionally,  in  order  to  do 
justice  to  them. 

After  this  terms  "loose  constructionists"  and  "strict  con.- 
stitutioners"  came  into  party  lines. 


FIRST  ADMINISTRATION. 


28J 


g.  The  Third  Session  of  Congress.  Increase  of  the 
Tariff.  Locating  the  Capitol.  Charter  of  a  United  States 
Bank. — The  third  session  of  Congress  met  at  Philadelphia 
December  6, 1790.  During  this  session  Vermont  and  Ken- 
tucky were  admitted  into  the  Union.  A  bill  for  a  slight 
increase  of  the  tariff  on  distilled  spirits  was  passed,  also 
provisions  made  for  locating  the  capitol  on  the  Potomac, 
and  another  bill  for  the  charter  of  a  United  States  bank, 
capital  of  $10,000,  $2,000  of  which  were  to  be  subscribed  for 
by  the  United  States.  All  these  were  federal  measures,  but 
had  not  been  tenaciously  opposed  by  the  other  party,  who 
by  this  time  had  become  more  reconciled  to  centralized 
power,  which  had  wrought  visible  improvements  in  the 
financial  interests  of  the  country,  besides  increased  respect 
for  us  abroad. 

6.  Washington  Unanimously  Re-elected. — Washing- 
ton's impartial  position  secured  the  Anti-Federalists' support 
for  a  second  term,  and  they  agreed  to  give  their  unanimous 
support  to  him  for  re-election,  but  each  party  had  its  own 
separate  candidate  for  Vice-President,  the  Federalists 
choosing  John  Adams,  and  the  Anti-Federalists,  or  Repub- 
licans, as  their  party  had  begun  to  be  called,  George  Clin- 
ton. Washington's  vote  was  unanimous.  Adams  had  77 
votes,  Clinton  50,  Jefferson  4,  and  Aaron  Burr  1.  Washing- 
ton and  Adams  were  inaugurated  March  4, 1793. 


THE  FATHER  OF  OUR  COUNTRY. 


282  SECOND  At>MiNis±RAtiotf. 

Second  Administration. 

THE  RISE  AND  RAGE  OF  POLITICAL  ISSUES. 

1.  A  General  Feeling  of  Confidence. — At  the  opening  of 
this  administration  there  was  a  general  feeling  of  confidence 
in  the  stability  of  the  constitutional  form  of  government 
just  adopted,  and  what  gratified  all  parties  the  most  and 
added  to  the  strength  of  the  Federal  party,  was  the  fact  that 
the  prophesying  of  a  Conservative  press  in  England,  that 
there  was  not  material  in  America  out  of  which  to  construct 
a  permanent  government  had  been  proven  false  by  the 
auspicious  beginning  already  made  in  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution,  an  arrangement  which  our  enemies  in  England 
had   pronounced   impossible.      "The  forces  to  govern  a 
nation  must  be  inherited  "  said  the  English  Tory  press,  but 
to  be  just  to  the  crown  officials  it   should  not  be  omitted 
that  no  offensive  prophesies  were  made  by  them,  whatever 
opinions  they  might  have  on  this  subject. 

2.  The  Public  Debt. — But   though  the  political  skies 
seemed  bright,  the  public  debt  had  been  funded  and  pro- 
vision made  for  liquidating   it,  yet  there  were  significant 
evidences    of    party    friction    which  needed  critical  but 
charitable  attention  from  the  administration,  and  it  was  a 
fortunate  thing  that  no  extreme  partisan  had  been  elevated 
to  the  office  of  President,  to  fill  the  chair  during  the  second 
administration  when  the  strong  arm  of  conservatism,  tem- 
pered with  the  spirit  of  both  justice  and  charity,  was  so 
necessary,  in  order  to  set  the  sails  of  the  ship  or  state  to 
ride  the  high  seas  of  nationalism.     Washington  was  the 
best  man  to  do  this,  and  it  is  only  a  fair  inference  to  con- 
ceive that  the  Anti-Federalists  supported  him  for  Presi^ 
dent,  not  because  they  entirely  approved  of  his  policy,  but 
under  a  conviction   that  he  would  take  no  radical  steps 
that  might  endanger  the  general  cause. 

3.  The  Critical  Condition. — The  critical  condition  of 
the  political  outlook  at  this  time  may  be  inferred  from  a 
passage  in  a  letter  to  Washington  from  Mr.  Randolph,  the 
Attorney  General,  during  the  first  administration.  He  says: 
"  It  can  not  have  escaped  you  that  decisions  in  our  politics 
as  systematically  as  those  which  prevail  in  Great  Britain, 
such  as  opposed  the    Constitution  from  a  hatred  of  the 
Union,  can  never  be  conciliated  by  any  overture  or  atone- 
ment.   By  others  it  is  mediated  to  push  the  construction  of 
the  Federal  power  to  every  tenable  extreme." 

4.  A  Fatal  Error. — A  third  class,  Republican  in  princi- 
ple, and  thus  far  in  my  judgment  happy  in  their  discern- 


SECOND  ADMINISTRATION.  283 

ment  of  our  welfare,  have  notwithstanding  mingled  with 
their  doctrine  a  fatal  error  that  the  State  Assemblies  are  to 
be  resorted  to  as  the  engines  of  correction  to  the  Federal 
administration.  The  animadversions  between  Hamilton 
and  Jefferson  at  this  time  perhaps  justified  the  apprehen- 
sions of  Mr.  Randolph,  but  Washington  wrote  letters  to 
both  of  them  which  had  the  effect  to  pour  oil  on  the 
troubled  waters,  giving  offense  to  neither  party. 

5.  English  Complications. — Pending  these  dangers  at 
home,  clouds  were  gathering  in  the  eastern  horizon  from 
over  the  waves  that,  happily  for  America,  diverted  attention 
from  home  issues  that  time  was    bound   to    settle    more 
amiably  than  could  be  done  during  the  present  existence 
of  personal  resentment.     England  entered  on  her  road  to 
grandeur  on  the  high  seas.     Here  was  her  realm,  tenable 
only  by  maintaining  her  superiority  over  other  nations,  and 
controlling  the  laws  of  trade  for  the  world.    America,  as 
>et,  had  no  right  on  the  ocean,  she  wished  to  find  a  market 
for  her  produce,  and  to  do  this  a  commercial  treaty  with 
England  was  the  only  channel  through  which  this  desirable 
ond  could  be  attained.   Hitherto  England,  the  arbiter  of  the 
ocean,  would  not  allow  an  American  vessel  to  sail  with  mer- 
chandise to  any  port  than  her  own,  and  the  hapless  monger 
in  American  goods  had  to  pay  English  merchants  a  profit 
on  all  foreign  exportations. 

6.  A   Commercial    Treaty  with   England. — The   first 
necessity  was  a  commercial  treaty  with  England,  for  which 
end  Washington  sent  John  Jay  to  the  Court  of  St.  James. 

England  had  already  had  abundant  evidence  of  Mr. 
Jay's  culture  in  diplomacy  at  the  treaty  of  Paris,  and  he  was 
received  with  becoming  respect.  A  treaty  was  made  with 
no  unnecessary  delay,  recognizing  certain  rights  to  Ameri- 
can commerce,  among  which  was  direct  trade  with  the  East 
Indies,  but  the  assumed  right  of  search  and  impressment  of 
American  seamen  was  not  given  up.  England  exercising 
the  business  of  this  aggressive  policy  by  the  pretense  that 
the  seamen  she  took  from  American  decks,  were  desert- 
ers from  her  naval  force. 

7.  The  Treaty. — Washington  did  not  hesitate  to  ratify 
the  treaty,  notwithstanding  this  omission,  and  the  Anti- 
Federalists  thereby  gained  great  strength,  for  the  general 
dissatisfaction  as  to  the  so-called  "ignominious"  result  of 
the  treaty  was  almost  universal.    The  Federal  party  did  not 
attempt  to  justify  this  omission  in  the  treaty,  but  took  the 
ground  that  it  was  the  only  way  to  escape  a  war  with  Eng- 
land, for  which  the  country  was  illy  prepared. 

Even  in  this  day  many  people  condemn  the  policy  of 


284  SECOND   ADMINISTRATION. 

Washington  in  ratifying  a  treaty  with  no  redress  for  such  a 
humiliation  in  it.  How  much  more,  then,  would  it  fall  short 
of  the  demand  of  the  old  revolutionary  soldiers.  The  Re- 
publicans saw  this  and  made  the  most  of  it.  Added  to  the 
rest,  much  popular  indignation,  owing  to  the  demand  of 
Genet,  the  first  minister  sent  to  represent  the  new  French 
Republic,  had  been  manifested  among  the  commoner  ele- 
ment of  the  Anti-Federalists,  but  Jefferson  took  no  part  in 
this  sentiment,  because  Genet  had  abused  his  rights  as  a 
minister  by  enlisting  men  tor  the  French  service  and  then 
obliged  the  administration  to  give  him  hispasspott,  even  in 
violation  of  the  popular  verdict. 

8.  The  Opposition. — At  the  head  and  front  t>f  the  op- 
position to  the  Federalists  stood  Thomas  Jefferson.  He  had 
opposed  the  banking  policy  and  other  Federal  measures, 
whenever  they,  in  his  estimation,  unnecessarily  abridged 
either  individual  or  state  rights. 

His  letter  to  Monroe,  dated  Monticello,  June  12, 1796,  is 
inserted  here  to  show  his  position  at  that  time: 

MONTICELLO,  June  12  1796. 
To  COLONEL  MONROE, 

Dear  Sir :  Congress  has  risen.  You  will  have  seen  by 
their  proceedings  the  truth  of  what  I  always  obstrved  to 
you,  that  one  man  outweighs  them  all  in  influence  over  the 
people  who  have  supported  his  judgment  against  their  own 
and  that  of  their  representatives.  Republicanism  must 
lie  on  its  oars,  resign  the  vessel  to  its  pilot,  and  themselves 
to  the  course  he  thinks  best  for  them.  I  had  always  con- 
jectured from  such  facts  as  I  could  get  hold  of  that  our 
public  debt  was  increasing  about  a  million  of  dollars  a 
year.  You  will  see  by  Gallatin's  speeches  that  the  thing  is 
proved.  You  will  see  further  that  we  are  completely  sad- 
dled and  bridled,  and  that  the  bank  is  so  firmly  mounted 
on  us  that  we  must  go  v  here  they  will  guide.  They  openly 
published  a  resolution  that,  the  national  property  being 
increased  in  value,  they  must  by  an  increase  of  circulating 
medium  furnish  an  adequate  representation  of  it,  and  by 
further  additions  of  active  capital  promote  the  enterprises 
of  our  merchants.  It  is  supposed  that  the  paper  in  circula- 
tion in  and  around  Philadelphia  amounts  to  twenty  millions 
of  dollars,  and  that  in  the  whole  Union  to  one  hundred 
millions.  I  think  the  last  too  high.  All  the  imported  com- 
modities are  raised  about  50  per  cent,  by  the  depreciation 
of  the  money.  Tobacco  shares  the  rise,  because  it  has  no 
competition  abroad.  Wheat  has  been  extraordinarily  high. 


SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 


285 


from  other  causes.  When  these  cease  it  must  fan  to  its 
ancient  nominal  price,  notwithstanding  the  depreciation  of 
that,  because  it  must  contend  in  markets  with  foreign 
wheats.  Lands  have  risen  within  the  vortex  of  the  paper 
and  as  far  out  as  that  can  influence.  They  have  not  risen 
at  all  here.  On  the  Contrary,  they  are  lower  than  they  were 
twenty  years  ago.  Those  I  had  mentioned  to  you,  to  wit, 
Carter's  and  Colle,  were  sold  before  your  letter  came,  Colle 
at  two  dollars  the  acre.  Carter's  had  been  offered  me  lor 
two  French  crowns  (13s.  2d.).  Mechanics  here  get  from  a 
dollar  to  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  day,  yet  are  much  worse  off 
than  at  the  old  prices. 

Volney  is  with  me  at  present.  He  is  on  his  way  to 
Illinois.  Some  late  appointments,  judiciary  and  diplomatic, 
you  will  have  heard,  and  stared  at.  The  death  of  R.  Jouett 
is  the  only  small  news  in  our  neighborhood. 

Our  best  affections  attend  Mrs.  Monroe,  Eliza  and  your- 
self. Adieu  affectionately, 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


MT.  VERNON, 
The  Home  of  George  Washington. 


9.  A  Partisan  Campaign. — The  second  term  of  Wash- 
ington was  now  drawing  to  a  close,  and  in  the  popular 
heart  there  seemed  to  be  a  dread  of  inaugurating  a  partisan 
campaign  in  the  next  Presidential  election,  and  Washing- 
ton was  urged  by  the  moderate  men  of  both  parties  to  ac- 


SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

cept  the  nomination  for  a  third  term.  This  he  declined, 
and  on  September  17, 1793,  issued  his  famous  farewell  ad- 
dress. 

The  bitterness  manifested  in  the  attacks  upon  Washing- 
ton by  his  political  opponents  was  his  incentive  to  writing 
this  address.  To  these  attacks  he  made  no  reply,  giving  as 
a  reason  that  they  were  too  illogical  to  merit  one,  but  he  in- 
tended  his  farewell  address  to  be  a  general  answer  to  the 
accusations  against  him. 

At  that  early  date  no  provision  had  been  made  for  mak- 
ing presidential  nominations,  but  John  Adams  was  the  true 
representative  of  the  Federal  party,  second  only  to  Wash- 
ington; and  the  popular  voice  confirmed  him  as  candidate 
for  President,  and  Thomas  Pickney  was  the  Federal  can- 
didate for  Vice-President  for  the  same  reason. 

10.  John  Adams  Elected. — Thomas  Jefferson  was  the 
true  ideal  of  Republicanism,  and  next  to  him  was  Aaron 
Burr.  These  men  had  earned  the  confidence  of  the  new 
party,  the  former  by  his  master  mind  together  with  his  zeal 
in  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  the  latter  by  his  equally 
acknowledged  zeal,  if  hot  by  his  executive  ability. 

The  election  took  place  in  November,  1796.  In  the  Elec- 
toral College  71  votes  were  cast  for  Adams,  68  for  Jefferson, 
59  for  Pickney  and  30  for  Burr  and  2  for  Washington. 

Jefferson  having  the  next  highest  number  of  votes  to 
Adams,  was  the  Vice-President  elect,  while  Adams  was 
P  resident. 

The  two  were  sworn  into  office  March  4, 1797. 


THIRD   ADMINISTRATION., 

Third  Administration. 


287 


THE  RISE  AND  RAGE  OF  NEW  POLITICAL  ISSUES. 

I,  The  Most  Stalwart  Federalists.— The  election  of 
Adams,  one  of  the  most  stalwart  Federalists  of  the  party  in 
the  face  of  so  many  unpopular  issues  that  the  Federalists 
had  taken  against  the  Republicans,  was  looked  upon  as  a 
triumph  of  conservatism  over  radicalism,  and  his  adminis- 
tration was  marked  with  decision  begotten  of  confidence, 


JOHN  ADAMS, 

Born  at  Braintree  (now  Quincy),  Norfolk  County,  Mass** 

October  19,  1735. 

President  March  4,  1797-March  4, 1801. 
Died  at  Braintree,  July  4,  1821. 


288  THIRD  ADMINISTRATION. 

but  not  more  than  was  needed  to  meet  the  foreign  emer. 
gencies  about  to  come  before  America. 

2.  French  Revolution. — The  success  of  the  American 
Revolution  had  inspired  the  French  to  undertake  one  with 
the  same  end  in  view,  and  however  justifiable  this  attempt 
might  be,  it  was  the  misfortune  of  France  that  the  inflamma- 
ble material  that  gave  the  momentum  to  her  lacked  the  re- 
straining influence  that  characterized  the  American  states- 
men, and  even  the  conscience  of  the  common  citizen. 

The  American  Revolution  astonished  the  world  by  the 
wisdom  and  moderation  of  its  demands;  while  the  French 
Revolution  shocked  its  sense  of  mortality,  by  its  horrors  and 
its  sacrilegious  disregard  of  all  divine  sentiments.  But  by 
a  miracle  of  courage  and  zeal,  it  had  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing a  Republic  on  the  ruins  of  a  dynasty,  that  fell  under 
the  recoil  of  crushed  liberty,  asserting  the  rights  of  nature 
in  man. 

3.  Trouble  with  France. — On  assuming  the  responsi- 
bility of    President,  Mr.  Adams  was  confronted  with  un- 
friendly, not  to  say  hostile,  words  and  acts  from  France  by 
way  of  retaliation  for  asking  France  to  recall  Genet  for  his 
alleged  abuse  of  his  prerogatives  as  minister  to  the  United 
States.     The  French  government  refused  to  receive  our 
minister,  annulled  our  treaty  of  1778  with  them,  and  their 
cruisers  forced  our  vessels  into  French  ports  on  the  ground 
that  they  carried  munitions  of  war  for  their  enemies. 

It  was  an  unhappy  state  of  affairs  that  we  were  then 
placed  in;  a  hostile  attitude  toward  the  nation  whose 
alliance  had  been  instrumental  in  securing  independence 
for  us,  but  our  apology  for  it  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  was  not 
the  nation  that  we  opposed,  but  an  extreme  faction  of  that 
that  now  held  a  transient  lease  of  power.  As  might  be  sup- 
posed, there  was  a  strong  element  of  sympathy  with  the 
French  among  the  Republicans  of  America,  and  to  this  day 
there  are  many  who  would  not  approve  of  the  heroic  treat- 
ment of  this  foreign  issue  by  Mr.  Adams.  It  is  no  far- 
fetched deduction  that  Jay's  treaty  with  the  English  was  an 
offense  to  France  and  an  infringement  on  the  spirit  of  our 
treaty  of  alliance  with  that  nation  of  1778,  which  was  still 
in  force. 

4.  Acts    of   Aggression  on    American    Commerce. — 
November  13,  1797,  the  Republican  members  voted  against 
a  bill  for  arming  vessels  to  defend  American  commerce 
from  French  spoliation.     But  Mr.  Adams  disregarded  their 
views.     In  the  meantime,  the   French  continued  their  acts 
of  aggression  on  American  commerce;  but  when  the  possi- 
bility of  war  came  the  Republicans  were  enforced  to  acqui- 


THIRD  ADMINISTRATION.  289 

csce  in  the  defensive  policy  of  the  administration,  even  it 
war  should  result.  To  this  end  appropriations  were  made 
to  raise  an  army  and  equip  a  fleet  to  be  used  against  France, 
should  diplomacy  prove  unavailing  in  the  settlement  of  the 
unfriendliness  which  Genet's  official  acts  in  the  United 
States  had  created  between  the  Red  Republicans  of  France 
and  the  Federal  party  in  the  United  States. 

5.  Sympathy     with     France. — Notwithstanding    this, 
Democratic  clubs  used  their  utmost  influence  to  oppose  the 
administration  by  appealing  to  the  chivalric  sentiment  of 
the  country  based  on  gratitude  toward  France  for  past  ser- 
vices during  the  revolution,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
their  argument  touched  a  sympathetic  chord  in  the  heart  of 
young  America,  brimful  of  patriotism.     These  clubs  had 
been  established  in  the  United  States  by  Genet  in  his  untem- 
pered  zeal  in  the  revolutionary  cause  of   France,  and  that 
their  design  was  to  reverse  the  Federal  policy  and  bring 
the  country  into  alliance  with  the  French  seemed  probable. 

6.  The  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws. — This  supposed  dan- 
ger was  the  cause  incentive  to  the  alien  and  sedition  laws, 
giving  the  President  power  to  banish  from  the  country  any 
one  whom  he  considered  dangerous  to  the  peace,  or  to  fine 
and  imprison  such  persons  as  should  be  supposed  guilty  of 
conspiring  together  to  oppose  any  measure  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

It  is  no  marvel  that  the  Republicans  opposed  this  bill 
and  made  it  the  occasion  of  renewing  their  charges  of  des- 
potism against  the  Federalists,  for  such  a  stretch  of  author- 
ity injured  the  Federal  cause,  but  was  soon  offset  by  the 
Republicans  passing  the  Virginia,  and  soon  afterward  the 
Kentucky  resolution,  which  although  they  were  passed  by 
but  two  state  Legislatures,  the  whole  Republican  party 
were  responsible  for  them.  These  resolutions  held  that  the 
alien  and  sedition  laws  were  unconstitutional,  and  that  the 
states  ought  not  to  be  bound  by  them,  and  that  they  set  the 
National  Government  at  defiance  by  holding  up  the 
supremacy  of  the  states. 

7.  The  Part  Taken  by  Genet  in  America.— The  part 
taken  by  Genet  in  America,  though  justified  by  his  patriotic 
zeal  for  the  cause  of  his  country    was  impracticable.    To 
undo  what  he  begun  here  was  the  excuse  for  the  Alien  and 
Sedition  Laws,  though  far  fetched  as  is  claimed.    His  recall 
was  not  a  partisan  measure,  but  to  undo  his  insiduous  work. 
As  soon  as  the  French  saw  the  true  situation  in  America, 
it  was  apparent  to  them  that  there  was  no  issue  between 
the  two  nations,  but  between  the  Jacobins  of  France  and 
the  Federal  administration.    The  former  were  not  crushed 


290  THIRD  ADMINISTRATION. 

in  the  fall,  Robespierre  and  France  made  overtures  of  peace 
to  America,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  class,  and 
resulted  in  a  treaty  called  "The  Convention  of  1800." 

8.  Decline  of  the  Power  of  the  Federalists'  Power. — 
The  Federalist  party,  now  near  its  downfall,  had  brought 
the  American  Revolution  through  all  the  dangers  that  had 
threatened  it,  and  united  the  nation  under  a  constitution, 
not  as  a  popular  measure,  but  perforce  of  logical  argu- 
ments, to  overcome  the  objections  of  sticklers  for  state 
rights.     It  was  incarnation  of  regal  dignity,  far  exceeding  it 
in  moral  force  and  executive  ability;  especially  diplomacy, 
as  history  proves. 

Some  of  the  leading  men  were  undecided  in  their  choice 
between  a  monarchal  or  republican  government,  but  the 
great  body  of  them  were  uncompromising  Republicans  in 
principle.  Albeit  their  sun  set  in  a  halo  of  glory,  when  the 
transcendent  power  of  Young  America,  now  casting  off  his 
swaddling  clothes,  as  personified  by  the  Republican  party, 
took  the  helm. . 

9.  A  Hot  Presidential  Contest. — For  the  next    presi- 
dential candidates,  the  Federalists  nominated  Mr.  Adams 
for  a  second  term,  and  C.  C.   Pickney,  of  South   Carolina, 
for  Vice-President.    The  Republicans  nominated  Thomas 
Jefferson,  the  present  Vice-President,  and  Aaron   Burr  of 
New  York  for  Vice-President.    The  popular  election  was 
very  evenly  balanced,  and  but  for  a  quarrel  between   Mr. 
Adams  and  Mr.  Hamilton  might  have  gone  in  favor  of  the 
Federalists.     There  were  for  Jefferson  73,  for  Aaron   Burr 
73,  for  Adams  65,  for  Pickney  64,  and  for  Jay  1,  votes  in  the 
electoral  college  in  the  succeeding  February. 

10.  First  Election  by  the  House  of  Representatives. — 
No  single  candidate  having  a  higher  number  of  votes  than 
any  other,  there  was  no  choice  and  the  election  went  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  where  ten  States  voted  for  Jef- 
ferson and  four  for  Burr  and  two  voted. blank,  after  six  days' 
balloting.    This  elected  Jefferson  President  and  Burr  for 
Vice-President,  who  were  sworn  into  office  on  the  4th  of 
March  following. 


FOURTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


291 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

Born  at  Shadwell,  Albemarle  County,  Va.,  April  2,  1743. 

President  March  4,  i8oi-March  4,  1809. 

Died  at  Monticello,  Va.,  July  4,  1826. 

Fourth  Administration. 

OUR  HEROIC  AGE  AS  A  NATION.— THE  RISE  AND 

REIGN  OF  A  NEW  PARTY.— THE  SETTLEMENT 

OF  OLD  QUESTIONS  AND  THE  RISE  OF 

NEW  ISSUES. 

i.  The  First  Republican  President.— The  election  of  a 
Republican  President  was  a  rebuke  to  the  old  Federal  party, 
who  beheld  in  Jefferson  an  able  captain  at  the  head  of  a 
popular  element  which  might  lead  the  country  into  excesses 
in  Democracy,  inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of  the  govern- 
ing power,  as  well  as  the  best  interests  of  the  nation. 


292  FOURTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

2.  Cause  of  Distrust. — Another   cause  of  distrust  in 
Jefferson  among  the  Federalists  grew  from  an  impression 
that  he  was  an  advocate  of  the  doctrines  of  Thomas  Paine 
on    religious   questions,    but    these    objections  soori   dis- 
appeared   under    the  overshadowing  influence    of    other 
minds.    The  Vllth  Congress  assembled.     Political  parties 
were  at  first  nearly  equally  divided  in  the  Senate,  but 
eventually  there  was  a  majority   for  the  administration. 
Jefferson   then  discontinued    the    custom   established    by 
Washington  of  delivering  in  person  his  message  to  Con- 
gress. 

3.  Uniform  System  of  Naturalization. — This  Congress, 
pursuant  to  the  recommendation  of  the  President,  estab- 
lished a  uniform  system  of  naturalization,  and  so  modified 
the  law  as  to  make  the  required  residence  of  aliens  five 
years,  instead  of  fourteen,  as  in  the  act  of  1798,  and  to  per- 
mit a  declaration  of    intention  to  become  a  citizen  at  the 
expiration  of  three  years. 

4.  First  Sinking  Fund.— By  his  recommendation  also 
was  established  the  first  sinking  fund  for  the  redemption  of 
the  public  debt.     It  required  the  setting  apart  annually  for 
this  purpose  the  sum  of  $7,300,000. 

5.  First  Law  in  Relation  to   the   Slave   Trade. — At 
this  session  the  first  law  in  relation  to  the  slave  trade  was 
passed.    It  was  to  prevent  the    importation  of  negroes, 
mulattoes,  and  other  persons  of  color  into  any  part  of  the 
Uaited  States,  within  a  state  which  had  prohibited  by  the 
law  the  admission  of  any  such  person.    The    penalty  was 
$1,000  and  the  forfeiture  of  the  vessel. 

6.  The  Slave  Trade  Was  not  then  Prohibited  by  the 
Constitution. — The  slave  trade  was  not  then  prohibited  by 
the  Constitution  nor  was  the  subject  then  generally  agitated, 
though  it  had   been  as  early  as  1793,  when,  as  previously 
stated,  an  exciting  sectional  debate  followed  the  presenta- 
tion of  a  petition  from  Pennsylvania  to  abolish    the  slave 
trade. 

7.  The  Purchase  and  Admission  of  Louisiana. — Prob- 
ably the  most  important  occurrence  under  the  first  admin- 
istration of  Jefferson  was  that  relating  to  the  purchase  and 
admission  of  Louisiana.    There  had  been  apprehensions  of 
a  war  with  Spain,  and  with    a  view  to  be  ready,  Congress 
had  passed    an    act  authorizing  the  President  to  call  the 
executives  of  such  of  the  states  as  he  might  deem  expedi- 
ent, for  detachments  of  militia  not  exceeding  80,000,  or  to 
accept    the  services  of  volunteers  for    a  term  o.     twelve 
months.     The  disagreement  arose  over  the  southwestern 
boundary  line  and  the  right  of  navigation  of  the  Missis- 


FOURTH  ADMINISTRATION.  293 

sippi.  Our  government  learned  in  the  spring  of  1802  that 
Spain  had,  by  a  secret  treaty  made  in  October,  1800,  actually 
ceded  Louisiana  to  France.  Our  government  had,  in  1795 
made  a  treaty  with  Spain  which  governed  the  right  of 
deposite  at  New  Orleans  for  three  years,  but  in  October 
1802,  the  Spanish  authorities  gave  notice  by  proclamation 
that  this  right  was  withdrawn.  Excitement  followed  all 
along  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  it  was  increased  by 
the  belief  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  privilege  was  made  at 
the  suggestion  of  France,  though  Spain  still  retained  the 
territory  as  the  formalities  of  ceding  it  had  not  been  gone 
through  with.  Jefferson  promptly  took  the  ground  that  if 
France  took  possession  of  New  Orleans,  the  United  States 
would  immediately  become  allies  of  England,  but  suggested 
to  Mr.  Livingston  at  Paris,  that  France  might  be  induced  to 
cede  the  island  of  New  Orleans  and  the  Floridas  to  the 
United  States.  It  was  his  belief,  though  a  mistaken  one, 
that  France  had  also  acquired  the  Floridas. 

8.  An  Aggressive  War  Against  Jefferson's  Adminis- 
tration.— The   Federalists    in  Congress  seized  upon  this 
question  as  one  upon  which  they  could  make  an  aggressive 
war  against  Jefferson's  administration,  and  resolutions  were 
introduced  asking  information  on  the  subject.    Jefferson, 
however,  wisely  avoided   all  entangling  suggestions  and 
sent  Monroe  to  aid  Livingston  in  effecting  a  purchase.  The 
treaty  was  formed  in  April,  1803,  and  submitted  to  the  Sen- 
ate in  October  following.    The  Republicans  rallied  in  favor 
of  this  scheme  of  annexation,  and  claimed  it  was  a  con- 
stitutional right  in  the  government  to  acquire  territory, 
a  doctrine  widely  at  variance  with  their  previous  proposi- 
tion, but  occasions  are  rare  where  parties  quarrel  with  their 
administrations    on    pivot     measures.      The    Federalists 
claimed  that  we  had  no  right  or  power  to  acquire  territory, 
and  that  the  acquirement  of  Louisiana  would  give  the  South 
a  preponderance  which  would  "  continue  for  all  time,  since 
southern  would  be  more  rapid  than  northern  development;" 
that  states  created  west  of  the  Mississippi  would  injure  the 
commerce  of  New  England,  and  they  even  went  so  far  as  to 
say  that  the  admission  of  the  Western  World  into  the  Union 
would  compel  the  eastern  states  to  establish  an  Eastern 
empire.    Doubts  were  also  raised  as  to  the  rights  of  Louisi- 
ana, when  admitted  to  citizenship  under  our  laws,  as  their 
lineage,  language  and  religion  were  different  than  our  own. 

9.  The  Inhabitants  of  the  Purchased  Territory.— Its 
inhabitants  were  French  and  descendants  of  French,  with 
some  Spanish  Creoles,  Americans,  English  and  Germans — 
in  all  about  90,000,  including  40,000  slaves.     There  were 

20 


294  FOURTH   ADMINISTRATION. 


many  Indians,  of  course,  in  a  territory  then  exceeding  a 
million  square  miles — a  territory  which,  in  the  language  of 
First  Consul  Napoleon,  "strengthens  forever  the  power  of 
the  United  States,"  and  which  will  give  to  England  a  mara- 
time  rival  that  will  sooner  or  later  humble  her  pride. 

10.  Ratifying  the  Treaty  of  Purchase. — Little  chance 
was  afforded  the  Federalists  for  adverse  criticism  in  Con- 
gress, for  the  purchase  proved  so  popular  that  the  people 
greatly  increased  the   majority   in  both  branches  of  the 
VIII.  Congress,  and  Jefferson   called  it  together  earlier, 
for  the  purpose  of  ratification.      The  Senate  ratified  the 
treaty  on  the  20th  of  October,  1803,  by  a  vote  24  to  7,  while 
the  House  adopted  a  resolution  for  carrying  the  treaty  into 
effect  by  a  vote  of  90  to  25.     Eleven  millions  of  dollars  of 
the  purchase  money  was  appropriated,  the  remaining  four 
millions    being   reserved   for  the  indemnity  of  American 
citizens  who  had  sustained  losses  by   French  assaults  upon 
our  commerce,  from  which  fact  subsequently  came  what  is 
known  as  the  French  spoliation  bill. 

11.  Prestige  and  Success  to  the  Republican  Party. — 
Fortunately  for  the  success  of  the  new  party  Jefferson, 
while  he  had  omitted  the  imposing  ceremonial  which  had 
accompanied  all  the  official  conventions  and  assembles  of 
the  Federalists,  had  preserved  the  respect  due  to  execute 
officers  with  simpler  formalities,  all  the  more  grateful  to 
the    common   people   whose  affection  for  their  rulers  is 
heightened  by  easy  familiarity.    And  this,  more  than  all 
other  causes  combined,  gave  prestige  and  success  to  the 
Republican  party. 

12.  Our  Heroic   Age. — "  The    stately   ceremonials   of 
Washington's  administration  were  appropriate  at  the  time. 
And  we  confess  that  they  seem  to  us  not  unbefitting  the 
man.    This  was  our  heroic  age — the  half  mythical  epoch 
of  nation  founders.     We  cannot,  like  the  ancients,  trans- 
late the  latter  to  demi-gods.    But  it  seems  to  us  very  harm- 
less   that    they    should   drift  down  the  tide  of  tradition 
associated  in  the  national  memory  with  science  accompani- 
ments which  in  the  distance  appear  grand  and  high.     We 
never  expect  to  see  Washington  painted  on  the  canvas  in 
pantaloons,  and  a  round  hat,  and  we  should  as  soon  think 
of  quarreling  with  the  costume  as  with  the  manners  of  the 
first  presidency." 

13.  Jefferson's  Re-election. — Jefferson  was  elected  for 
a  second  term  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  having  re- 
ceived 162  votes  in  the  electoral  college  of  February,  1805. 
George   Clinton  was  elected  Vice-President  by  the  same 
number,  while  Charles  C.  Pickney  and  Rutus  King,  tb« 
Federal  candidates,  bad  but  14  votes, 


FIFTH   ADMINISTRATION.  295 

The  Great  Issues  of  the  Fifth 
Administration. 

POLITICAL    EVENTS,    PARTY    CONTESTS,    PARTY 
STRUGGLES,    ETC. 

1.  The  Federal  Party's   Influence. — During  the  three 
Federal   and   one   Republican    administrations   preceding 
this  time  the  issues  between  the  Federal  and  Republican 
parties  had  been  clearly  defined.     But  though  the  Federal- 
ists were  politically  crushed,  they  maintained  an  influence 
in  the  councils  of  the  ration  that  could  not  be  disregarded 
by  their  opponents,  especially  as  they  embraced  the  most 
respectable  portion  of  the  people — the   clergy  of  all  de- 
nominations, the  most  noted  lawyers,  the  wealthiest  mer- 
chants, and  all  that  class  of  men  who  are  slow  to  oppose 
the  "powers  that  be." 

2.  Attitude  of  the  Republicans,  or  Democrats,  as  They 
Called  Themselves.— On  the  other  hand,  the  Republicans 
were  composed  of  the  active  spirits  of  the  country— men 
who  cared  little  for  inherited  name  or  fame;  men  who  glori- 
cu  m  their  individuality  and  valued  everything  for  what  it 
showed  itself  to  be,  stripped  of  the  garb  of  pretension. 

3.  The  Position  of  the  Two  Parties.— The  Federalists 
had  censured  Jefferson  for  his  friendly  act  to  Thomas  Paine, 
in  sending  a  war  vessel  to  convey  him  from  France  to  the 
United    States.    Thomas    Paine's    political    writings  and 
political  influence  had  done  much  to  educate  the  people  in 
self  government  and  make  a  great  nation  of  the  American 
people. 

The  Republicans  had  in  their  ranks  the  masses  who  be 
longed  to  no  church  and  had  no  faith  to  defend.  All  those 
who  had  embraced  the  cause  of  the  French  Revolution 
were  Republicans.  The  men  of  quick  impulses  and  salient 
points  of  character  were  Republicans,  while  the  men  of 
more  immutable  thoughts  were  Federalists.  One  party  was 
the  balancing  force  of  the  other  through  the  natural  and 
educational  convictions  of  the  respective  minds. 

4.  A  New  Treaty  with  England. — Whoever  has  stud- 
ied the  character  of  Jefferson  cannot  fail  to  see  in  him  the 
representative  of  Republican  Democracy,  but  while  he  fully 
represented  it,  his  quick  sense  of  practicability  served  him 
in  various  exigencies  which  came  upon  him  in  his  official 
responsibility.    He  well  knew  that  his  constituency  favored 
France  and  hated   England.     Neutrality  was  essential  in 
order  to  avoid  a  war  with   England.  _  The  commercial 
treaty  of  1794  with  England  as  far  as  it  affected  commerce, 


296  FIFTH  ADMINISTRATION, 

expired  by  limitations  in  1802,  and  the  convention  of  1800 
made  no  provision  for  commercial  relations,  therefore, 
American  trade  with  both  of  these  countries  rested  on  tran- 
sient acts  of  Parliament  with  the  one,  and  French  decrees 
with  the  other.  American  vessels  bound  for  French  ports 
were  liable  to  seizure  by  English  cruisers,  and  if  sailing  for 
English  ports  liable  to  seizure  from  French  cruisers. 

As  a  means  of  relief,  Jefferson,  in  1806,  appointed  James 
Monroe  and  William  Pickney  as  commissioners  to  the 
court  of  St.  James  to  make  a  treaty.  On  the  31st  of  Decem- 
ber this  end  was  effected  on  very  favorable  terms  to  the 
United  States,  commercially;  but  even  through  the  utmost 
exertions  of  the  American  commissioners,  the  English  com- 
missioners, Lords  Holland  and  Aukland,  could  not  be  pre- 
vailed upon  to  concede  to  the  right  of  search,  and  Jefferson 
refused  to  ratify  this  treaty,  for  the  reason  that  it  lacked  the 
concession  of  this  right,  which  was  the  only  consistent 
course  he  could  take,  he  having  censured  the  Federalists 
for  ratifying  Jay's  treaty  because  it  did  not  prohibit  the 
right  of  search. 

This  gave  offense  to  the  Federalists,  who  claimed  that 
it  was  better  than  no  treaty,  and  it  caused  great  dissatisfac- 
tion in  the  New  England  states,  whose  commercial  inter- 
ests demanded  the  encouragement  of  foreign  trade. 

5.  The  Next  Great  Event. — The  next  great  event  dur- 
ing the  administration  of  Jefferson  was  the  attack  of  the 
British  frigate,  Leopard,  upon  the  United  States  ship,  the 
Chesapeake,  off  Hampton  Roads,  in  June,  1807,  and  taking 
from  her  deck  four  English  seamen,  and  impressing  them 
into  the  British  service.    In  this  encounter  three  Ameri- 
cans had  been  killed  and  eighteen  wounded.    The  British 
promptly  offered  reparation  but  refused  to  relinquish  their 
rights  to  search  American  vessels.    The  grounds  on  which 
they  claimed  this  right  being  that  it  was  their  only  way  to 
reclaim  deserters  from  the  British  service  who  had  enlisted 
in  the  American  service. 

6.  The  Embargo  Act. — The  Embargo  Act  was  passed 
on  the  18th  of  December,  1807,  as  a  retaliatory  measure. 
The  substance  of  this  act  was  to  prohibit  vessels  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  from  sailing  for  foreign 
ports.    Very  little  notice  was  taken  by  England  of  this  new 
act  of  the  American  administration.    On  the  contrary,  its 
effect  was  a  recoil  on  American  commercial  interests,  and 
the  Federal  party,  especially  in  the  New  England  states, 
raised  an  effective  clamor  against    the  Republicans  for  a 
measure  that  had  proven  so  disastrous  to  tne  commercial 
interests  of  the  country. 


FIFTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

L  Foreign  Complications.  Only  a  few  weeks  after  the 
rgo  Act  had  been  passed  British  orders  in  council  had 
been  issued,  bearing  date  of  November,  1807,  that  "All  trade 
directly  from  America  to  every  port  and  country  of  Europe, 
at  war  with  Great  Britian,  is  totally  prohibited."  Previous 
to  the  issuing  of  the  British  orders  the  decrees  of  Berlin, 
and  later  those  of  Milan,  had  been  issued  by  Napoleon, 
and  while  they  aimed  a  blow  at  British  commerce  they  dis- 
regarded the"  rights  of  neutrals,  and  Americans  suffered 
from  them  the  same  as  that  of  other  neutral  nations.  The 
following  report  made  to  the  House  of  Representatives 
November,  1808,  will  show  the  situation  at  the  time: 

"  The  aggression  of  England  and  France  collectively, 
affecting  almost  the  whole  of  our  commerce,  and  persisted  in, 
notwithstanding  repeated  remonstrances,  explanations  and 
propositions,  the  most  candid  and  unexceptionable,  are,  to 
all  intents  and  purposes,  a  maritime  war  waged  by  both 
nations  against  the  United  States.  It  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  ultimate  and  only  effectual  mode  of  resisting  that 
warfare,  if  persisted  in,  is  war.  A  permanent  suspension  of 
commerce  after  repeated  and  unavailing  efforts  to  obtain 
peace,  would  not  properly  be  resistance;  it  would  be  with- 
drawing from  the  contest  and  abandoning  our  indisputable 
rights  freely  to  navigate  the  ocean.  The  present  unset- 
tled state  of  the  world,  the  extraordinary  situation  in  which 
the  United  States  are  placed,  and  the  necessity,  if  war  be 
resorted  to,  of  making  it  at  the  same  time  against  both 
nations,  and  these  two  the  most  powerful  in  the  world,  are 
the  principal  causes  of  hesitation.  There  would  be  none  in 
resorting  to  that  remedy,  however  calamitous,  if  a  selection 
could  be  made  on  any  principle  of  justice  or  without  a  sac- 
rifice of  national  independence." 

8.  The   Federalists  Opposed  the  Embargo  Act.— The 
Federalists  had  opposed  the  Embargo  Act,  and  the  New 
England  states  were  almost  unanimous  against  it,  because 
it  sacrificed  their  interests  to  what  the  Republicans  claimed 
to  be  a  necessary  foreign  policy  wherewith  to  force  the 
English  to  make  a  treaty  favorable  to  the  United  States. 

9.  "  The    Non-Intercourse    Law."— March  1,  1809,  an 
act  was  passed  by  Congress  called  "  The  Non-Intercourse 
Law."     It  was  intended  as  a  substitute  for  the  embargo,  on 
the    following  conditions,  to-wit:   "That   if  England  and 
France  would  both  repeal  their  restrictions  on  American 
commerce  then  the  United  States  would  repeal  both  the 
embargo  and  non-intercourse  acts."    Much  diplomacy  but 
no  relief  was  the  fruit  of  this  proposition.    The  Federalists 
accused  the  Republican  party  of  passing  the  embargo  act 


298  SIXTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

as  a  vindictive  measure  against  the  New  England  Federal- 
ists,  which  charges  had  little  effect,  as  the  Republican  policy 
was  vindicated  by  their  popular  vote  on  the  coming  PresU 
dential  election. 

10.  James  Madison  Elected  President. — The  Repub- 
lican candidates  were  James  Madison,  for  President,  who 
received  122  electoral  votes,  and  George  Clinton,  for  Vice- 
President,  who  received  113  electoral  votes.  The  Federal 
candidates  were  C.  C.  Pickney,  for  President,  who  received 
47  electoral  votes,  and  Rufus  King,  for  Vice-President,  who 
received  47  electoral  votes.  Besides  these  there  were  some 
scattering  votes  for  other  candidates.  The  successful  can- 
didates were  sworn  into  office  on  the  4th  of  March,  1809. 


Sixth  Administration. 

POLITICAL  EVENTS  OF  THE  SIXTH  ADMINISTRA- 
TION.—THE    SUCCESS    OF   THE  DEMO. 
CRATIC    PARTY. 

1.  Republican  or  Democratic  Party. — The  fall  of  the 
Federal  party,  and,  on  its  ruins,  the  rise  of  the  Republican 
or  Democratic  party    as  the    Republicans   began  to  call 
themselves  now,  had  subordinated  partisan  issues  to  the  na- 
tional question  of  foreign  commerce. 

2.  A  Bad  Feeling  Against  England. — The  war  between 
France  and  England  had  taken  such  a  phase,  that  neutral 
nations  who  had  any  commerce  on  the  ocean,  were  almost 
as  badly  punished  as  the  belligerents  themselves.  They  had 
no  immunity  from  capture  from  either  one  belligerent  or  the 
other.   If  bound  for  the  ports  of  either  belligerent  the  other 
would  seize  their  vessels.  Both  parties  wished  to  avert  war, 
but  in  their  policy  they  were  not  sustained  by  the  people, 
who  were  exasperated  against  England,  not  only  for  claim- 
ing the  right  of  search,   but  for  selling   guns  and  scalping 
knives  to  hostile  Indians  on  our  frontiers. 

?.  Popular  Indignation  Demanded  War. — But  a  change 
oreign  policy  was  demanded  during  Madison's  first 
term.  Popular  indignation  demanded  war,  and  forbear- 
ance had  reached  its  limit.  This  feeling  was  universal 
among  the  Republicans,  who  now  gloried  in  the  name  of 
Democrats,  and  even  the  Federal  masses,  despite  loyalty  to 
party  ties,  began  to  have  vengeful  thoughts  for  late  English 
aggressions. 


SIXTH  ADMINISTRATION.  299 


JAMES  MADISON, 

Born  at  Port  Conway,  King  George  County,  Virginia, 

March  16,  1751. 

President  March  4,  iSop-March  4,  1817. 
Died  at  Montpelier,  Virginia,  June  28,  1836. 


Pending  this  agitation,  Mr.  Erskine,  the  English  minis- 
ter to  America,  in  April,  1809,  made  a  proposition  to  the 
President  to  the  effect  that  if  the  United  States  would 
repeal  the  Non-Intercourse  Act,  the  English  orders  in 
council,  of  which  the  Americans  complained,  should  be 
repealed.  This  proposition  was  hailed  with  delight  by  the 
chief  executive,  and  he  hastened  to  give  it  force  by  procla- 
mation. All  that  was  wanting  now  to  restore  quiet  was  the 
ratification  by  the  English  Government.  On  the  following 
July,  dispatches  came  that  the  happy  compromise  had 
failed  to  be  ratified  on  the  ground  that  Mr.  Erskine  had 
exceeded  his  instructions  in  some  of  the  provk'on^ry 
details  of  the  article  in  question. 

4.  To  Checkmate  the  English. — Both  parties  were  dis- 
appointed that  peace  had  been  averted  through  such  a  cap- 
tious ruling  of  the  British  Cabinet,  and  war  was  the  result. 
Since  1778  there  ever  has  been,  and  still  is,  a  friendly  feel- 
ing in  America  for  France,  and  although  a  charitable 


900  SIXTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

construction  was  put  upon  the  decrees  of  Berlin  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  necessary  to  checkmate  the  English, 
whose  orders  in  council  had  been  so  disastrous  to  America, 
and  although  the  diplomatic  correspondence  between  the 
two  countries  ever  since  the  inauguration  of  the  "The  Con- 
tinental System"  had  been  antagonistic,  yet  the  French 
Minister  evidently  felt  a  partial  assurance  that  a  wedge  of 
disintegration  could  be  inserted  between  America  and  Eng- 
land by  an  adroit  piece  of  coquetry  towards  her  (England) 
on  the  part  of  France. 

5.  Trying  to  Avert  War. — To  this  end,  on  the  5th  of 
August,  1810,  M.  de  Champagny,  the  French  Minister,  pro- 
posed to  the  American   Minister  in   Paris,  General  Arm- 
strong, that  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  should  be  re- 
voked on  two  conditions,  which  were  that   England  should 
repeal  her  orders  in  council  and  that  America  should  repeal 
her  non- intercourse  laws.    This  proposition  was  promptly 
submitted  to  English  Court,  but  it  was  declined  on  the 
ground  that  in  its  estimation  Napoleon  had  no  intention  to 
repeal  his  offensive  decrees  in  their  application  to   Eng- 
land. 

6.  A  Formal  Declaration  of  War  Against  England. — 
Much  fruitless  diplomacy  followed,  succeeded  by  a  formal 
declaration  of  war  against  England,  made  June  18,  1812. 
Though  not  a  party  measure,  the  opposition  to  it  in  New 
England  was  emphatic.    The  governors  of  Massachusetts 
denied  the  constitutional  right  of  the  President  to  call  their 
militia  out  of  the  state,  except  for  defense  in  case   of 
invasion. 

7.  Madison  Re-elected. — The  next    presidential  elec- 
tion gave  128  votes  for  Madison,  a  second  term;  Gerry,  the 
Republican  candidate  for  Vice-President,  131  votes.    Clin- 
ton, the  Federal  candidate  for  President,  had  but  89  votes, 
and   Ingersol,  the  Federal  candidate  for  Vice-President, 
had  but  86  votes.    Madison  and  Gerry  were  inaugurated 
March  4, 1813. 


SEVENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  301 

Political  Events  of   the  Seventh 
Administration. 

x.  The  War  Against  England. — The  war  against  Eng- 
land was  now  the  inevitable  policy  of  the  United  States, 
war  not  conducted  on  party  lines,  although  the  feeble  and 
unavailing  protest  against  it,  nearly  the  whole  of  it,  came 
from  the  Federalists.  Many  New  England  people  opposed 
it,  alleging  that  it  might  expose  them  to  an  invasion,  and 
that  it  was  waged  on  issues  that  time  only  would  settle 
without  drawing  the  sword.  To  oppose  it  a  convention 
assembled  in  Hartford  December  15,  1814,  composed  of 
delegates  from  the  different  New  England  States. 

2.  Secret  Session. — Several  days  were  spent  in  secret 
session,  and  its  proceedings  were  not  published  till  1833, 
during  which  long  interval  a  treasonable  indictment  rested 
on  the  heads  of  those  who  composed  it,  by  implications, 
in  the  minds  of  the  people,  more  onerous  than  their  actions, 
had  it  been  known,  would  justify.  The  secretary,  Theodore 
Dwight,  was  the  one  who  relieved  the  suspicion  by  pub- 
lishing  the   whole    proceedings,    nothing  of    which    were 
treasonable. 

3.  Negotiations  for  Peace. — After  the  war  had  pro- 

gressed  two  years,  negotiations  for  peace  were  begun  at 
hent,  in  Belgium,  in  August,  1814.  Though  American  arms 
had  won  laurels,  particularly  at  sea,  yet  we  wanted  peace. 
More  victories  on  sea  or  land  were  not  needed  on  the  score 
of  glory,  but  were  we  sure  to  win  them,  when  England  had 
the  victors  of  Waterloo,  now  released  from  home  service, 
ready  to  bring  against  us?  Even  Young  America  knows 
when  to  use  discretion,  and  the  President  threw  no  fire 
brands  into  the  council  fires  by  raising  any  issues  for  which 
the  war  had  been  declared.  England  wanted  peace,  too. 
Her  thirst  for  military  glory  had  been  satiated  by  "he  down- 
fall of  Napoleon,  who  was  now  her  prisoner,  and  he  who 
would  have  counseled  a  continuation  of  war,  after  the  ex- 
haustive struggle  she  had  maintained  in  conquering  him, 
would  have  been  considered  an  enemy  to  mankind. 

4.  Peace    Declared. — The  articles   of  peace  between 
England  and  America  were  signed  December  24,  1814,  by 
the  American  Commissioners,  John  Quincy  Adams,  Albert 
Galatin,  James  A.  Bayard,  Henry  Clay,  and  Jonathan  Rus- 
sell, and  by  Lord  Gambier,  Henry  Gouldburn,  and  William 
Adams,  on  the  part  of  England.    The  treaty  was  duly  rati- 
fied   by    both    countries.     It  settled  no  point  in  disputed 
theory,  but  practically  settled  all  of  them  except  the  still 

20 


302  SEVENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

debatable  northeastern  and  northwestern  boundary  lines 
between  the  two  nations.  It  did  another  thing,  which  was 
to  soften  partisan  asperities  in  America,  and  to  pave  the 
way  for  the  "era  of  good  feeling"  which  characterized  the 
second  administration  of  Monroe. 

5.  American     Diplomacy. — The     United     States    had 
crossed  swords  with  England,  in  the  main  victoriously,  and 
had  demonstrated   its   discretion  in  diplomacy  in  its  firm- 
ness on  certain  issues,  in  the  decision  of  which  it  held  the 
controlling  power,  and  by  its  silence  on  other  issues  which 
time  would  solve  in  favor  of  the  United   States.    All  poli- 
tical parties  shared  the  naticnal  pride,  even  the  Federalists, 
who  opposed  the  war.  The  experiences  of  the  late  war  had 
shown  the  necessity  of  national  money,  as  wars  always  do, 
and  one  of  the  first  things  to  be  done  after  peace  had  been 
restored  was  to  make  provision  for  this  requirement. 

6.  The     National      Bank. — Hamilton     planned     the 
National  Bank,     It  had  answered  the  ends  for  which  it  was 
intended  and  went  out  of  existence  in  1811 — which  was  the 
limited  time  of  its  charter.    At  this  date  an  attempt  to  re- 
charter  it  had  failed  by  one  vote.    The  Republicans  had 
opposed  it  from  the  first,  but  now,  April  10,  1816,  largely 
through  Republican  influence,  a  national  bank  was  chart- 
ered for  twenty  years  with  a  capital  of  $35,000,000,  of  which 
one-fifth  was  to  be  subscribed  by  the  general  government. 

7.  A  Long  Debate. — A  long  debate  preceded  this  act,  the 
substance  of  which  showed  that  the  reasons  for  chartering 
the  bank  were  to  give  the  country  a  sounder  and  better 
currency  than  that  which  the  state  banks  had  furnished 
since  the  first  United  States  bank  had  gone  out  of  existence 
in  1811,  the  value  of  whose  paper  bad  sunk  nearly  twenty 
per  cent.,  and  caused  a  great  loss  to  the  people  and  even 
to  the  government.     It  should  not  be  overlooked  that  the 
United  States  bank  charter  was  this   time  a  Republican 
measure  in  opposition  to  the  Federalists,  while  the  first  one 
was  just  the  reverse. 

8.  Indiana  Admitted. — Near  the  close  of  this  administra- 
tion   Indiana  was  admitted,  and    the  society   that  organ- 
ized Liberia  for  freed  negroes  was  formed. 

9.  James  Monroe  Elected  President. — The  next  Presi- 
dential election  was  now  at  hand,  and  the  Republicans  had 
only  to  walk  over  the  course.    James  Monroe,  the  Republi- 
can candidate  for  President,  had  183  votes,  Daniel  D.  Tomp- 
kins,  candidate  for  Vice-President,  had  the  same  number. 
Rufus  King,  Federal  candidate  for  president,  had  34  votes, 
while  a  few  votes  each  were  given  to  different  Federal  can- 
didates for  Vice-President.  The  successful  candidates  were 
inaugurated  March  4, 1817. 


EIGHTH  ADMINISTRATION.  303 

Political    Events   and   New  Issues  of 
the  Eighth  Administration. 

i.  Result  of  the  War.— The  war  of  1812  never  had  a 
counterpart.  On  the  part  of  America  it  was  a  test  of  nation- 
ality. Could  the  United  States  keep  their  name  in  the  fam- 
ily of  nations  by  defending  those  rights  for  which  govern- 
ments are  designed?  That  was  the  question,  and  an  em- 
phatic "yes"  was  the  answer  which  thundered  from  the 
guns  of  our  infantine  marine.  The  treaty  of  Ghent,  which 


JAMES  MONROE, 

Born  In  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia. 

April  28,  1758. 

President  March  4,  1  8  1  7-March  4,  1  825. 
Died  at  New  York  City  July  4,  1831. 

hushed  the  voice  of  the  guns,  made  in  haste  and  under  the 
excited  feelings  on  both  sides,  left  some  issues  between  the 
two  countries  practically  unsettled,  especially  such  as  re- 
lated to  American  foreign  rights  in  a  national  point  of  view, 
as  well  as  our  commercial  rights  on  the  protection  of  Amer- 
ican citizens  abroad. 


304  EIGHTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  our  country,  these 
issues  came  before  Mr.  Monroe  for  the  reason  that  he  was 
the  first  president  to  represent  the  policy  to  be  penned  by  a 
republic  that  had  shown  its  ability  on  the  ocean  to  protect 
its  rights  like  other  nations,  conspicuous  among  which  was 
the  policy  to  be  framed  offensive  and  defensive  towards 
our  neighboring  nation  on  the  American  continent.  Up  to 
this  t;,™e  the  United  States  had  never  been  consulted  by 


HENRY  CLAY. 


any  European  nation  as  to  either  conquest  or  any  other  dis- 
position to  be  made  of  countries  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

2.  The  Monroe  Doctrine. — At  this  time  Spain  was  rap- 
idly losing  control  of  her  conquered  provinces  in  the  West- 
ern World,  and  that  other  European  nations  were  taking 
measures  to  secure  footholds  here  was  certain;  hence  the 
policy  to  be  pursued  by  the  United  States  in  relation  to 
this  matter  was  looked  for  with  great  interest. 

Mr.  Monroe  was  well  equal  to  the  occasion  in  setting 
this  forth  in  his  own  dignified  plainess,  which  so  well  repre- 
sents the  sentiments  of  his  peers  that  it  has  descended  into 
history  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  Let  us  quote  his  words. 


EIGHTH  ADMINISTRATION.  305 

3.  Our  Rights. — "In  the  wars  of  the  European  powers, 
in  matters  relating  to  themselves,  we  have  never  taken  any 
part;  nor  does  it  comport  with  our  policy  to  do  so.     It  is 
only  when  our  rights  are  invaded  or  seriously  menaced  that 
we  resent  injuries  or  make  preparation  for  our  defense. 
With  the  movements  in  this  hemisphere  we  are  of  necessity 
more  immediately   interested,  and  by  causes  which  must 
be  obvious  to  all  enlightened  and  importunate  observers. 
The  political  systems  of  the  allied  powers  are  essentially 
different  in  this  respect  from  that  of  America.    This  differ- 
ence proceeds  from  that  which  exists  in  their  respective 
governments,  and,  to  the  defense  of  our  own,  which  has 
been  abused  by  the  loss  of  so  much  blood  and  treasure,  and 
matured  by  the  wisdom  of  her  most  enlightened  citizens, 
and  under  which  we  have  enjoyed  unexampled  felicity,  this 
whole     nation     is   devoted.     We     owe    it,    therefore,    to 
candor,  and  to  the  amicable  relations  existing  between  the 
United  States  and  those  powers,  to  declare  that  we  shoifd 
consider  any  attempt  on  their  part  to  extend  their  system 
to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace 
and  safety. 

"W7ith  the  existing  Colonies  or  dependence  of  any 
European  powers  we  have  not  interfered,  and  shall  not 
interfere.  But  with  the  governments  who  have  declared 
their  independence  and  maintained  it,  and  whose  independ- 
ence we  have  on  great  consideration,  and  on  just  principles 
acknowledged,  we  could  not  view  any  interposition  for  the 
purpose  of  oppressing  them,  or  controlling  in  any  other 
manner  their  destiny  by  any  European  power,  in  any  o  her 
light  than  as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition 
toward  the  United  States." 

4.  Purchase  of  Florida. — The  rapid  growth    of    the 
United  States  had  made  Florida  a  very  untenable  colony 
for  Spain,  and  on  the  22d  of  February,  she  ceded  it  to  the 
United  States  for  the  considerat'on  of  $5,000,000  and  by  the 
same  treaty  relinquished  any  rirht  she  might  have  to  terri- 
tory on  the  Pacific  coast,  north  of  the  42d  parallel.    This 
was  a  humiliating  measure  for   Spain,  being  a  confession 
that  her  people  could  not  keep  pace  with  Young  America 
in  national  progress. 

5.  *  Admission  of  Missouri  an  a  Slave  State. — The  next 
year  another  question  came  up  that  had  its  opposers  through 
the  same  channel  that  had  produced  so  much   friction   in 
the  national  councils  ever  since  the  adoption  of  the  consti- 
tution.    The  ordinance  of  1787  had  excluded  slavery  from 
all  territory  north  of  the  Ohio  river,  and  no  constitutional 
objection  had  been  made  to  the  restrictive  clause  in  that 

*  During  this  administration  five  newfetates  were  admitted  into  the 
Union:  Misssisippi  in  1817 ;  Illinois  in  1818;  Alabama  in  1819;  Maine 
in  1820,  and  Missouri  in  1821, 


EIGHTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

ordinance.  But  now  a  large  pecuniary  interest  in  slaves 
had  grown  up  in  the  South,  and  with  it  a  disposition  to 
defend  that  interest.  To  this  end  the  people  of  Missouri 
territory  in  1819  applied  for  admission  into  the  Union  as  a 
slave  state.  Individual  rights,  state  rights  and  constitu- 
tional rights  were  demanded  by  the  people  in  the  south, 
and  to  guarantee  this,  slavery  must  be  allowed  in  the  new 
state.  On  the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of  freedom 
declared  that  their  rights  would  be  violated  by  the  admis- 
sion of  Missouri  as  a  slave  state. 

6.  The   Missouri  Compromise. — The  compromise  by 
which  the  bill  was  passed,  was,  that  henceforward  all  terri- 
tory west  of  Missouri  and    north  of  the  parallel    36°  80' 
should  be  free  from  slavery.     No  political  party  fully  rep- 
resented either  side  of  this  issue,  in  its  first  incipiency, 
although,  of  the  few  Federal  senators  and  representatives 
then  in  Congress,  the  majority  were  against  the  admission 
of  Missouri  as  a  slave  state.    On  the  other  hand  the  Repub- 
licans or  Democrats  as  they  were  by  this  time  sometimes 
called,  were  largly  in  favor  of  admitting  the   state  without 
restrictions.    On  this  side  the  southern  states  were  united 
irrespective  of  parties,  the  opposition  coming  entirely  from 
the  north,  also,  almost  irrespective  of  parties. 

7.  Not  Strictly  a  Partisan  Issue.— The   proof  that  it 
was  not  strictly  a  partisan  issue  is  seen  by  the  close  vote  by 
which  the  compromise  was  passed,  which  was  as   follows: 
In  the  house,  against  the  restrictions,  86  yeas;  82  nays;  the 
senate  concurring  by  a  vote  of  26  against  15 — this  division 
of  opinion  being  much  more  nearly  balanced  tl>an  a  division 
separating  the  Federalists   from  the   Republicans.     Henry 
Clay  was  one  of  the   most   conspicuous  advocates  for   the 
compromise,  in  which  work  he  was  assisted  by  the  moder- 
ate men  of  both  parties. 

8.  Strict    Constructionists     and     Loose     Construo 
tionists. — Ever  since  the  adoption   of  the  constitution,  in 
1781,  the  term,  Strict  Constructionists  and  Loose  Construc- 
tionists has  been  in  vogue.    They  have  been  used  more  in 
a  descriptive  sense  than  as  defined  party  names,  although 
the  loose  or  liberal  Constructionists  had  been  chiefly  found 
in  the  Federal  ranks  because  they  had  been  the  advocates 
of  a  United  States  bank,  protective  tariff  and  international 
improvements. 

The  Anti-Federalists  and  their  successors,  the  Republi- 
cans, had  objected  to  these  measures  on  the  ground  that 
the  constitution  authorized  no  such  responsibilities  in  its 
strict  construction,  and  only  by  a  loose  construction  of  its 
powers  could  the  United  States  adopt  them.  Hence  the 
origin  of  these  terms, 


EIGHTH  ADMINISTRATION.  307 

9.  The  Convulsive  Issue. — In  the  convulsive  issue  just 
passed  as  to  slavery  in  Missouri,  these  terms  had  been  ap- 
plied in  the  settlement  of  a  more  irritating  problem  than 
ever  before,  the  advocates  for  slavery  having  made  it  the 
occasion  for  bitter  attacks  on  their  opponents,  on  the  ground 
of  violating  the  rights  of  the  constitution  by  their  loose  con- 
struction  of  its  meaning  and  intent,  in  guaranteeing  the 
rights  of  each  state  to  make  its  own  laws. 

10.  The  Friends  of  Freedom. — The  friends  of  freedom 
retorted  that  the  true  policy  of  the  government,  as  to  creat- 
ing or  admitting  more  slave  territory,  had  been  forecast 
when  the  ordinance  of  1787  had  excluded  slavery  forever 
from  all  territory  north  of  the  Ohio;  and  on  that  ground 
claimed  to  be  strict  constructionis. 

11.  United  States  Bank,  Protective  Tariff  and  Internal 
Improvements. — The  question,  whether  a    United  States 
bank,  protective  tariff  and  internal  improvements  were  in 
accordance  with    a    strict    construction    of    constitutional 
powers  or  not,  was  subsequently  settled  in  the  affimative, 
though  prior  to  the  settlement  of  the  question  as  to  whether 
the  constitution  had  power  to  limit  slavery.     During  the 
late  struggle  Henry  Clay  had  made  himself  very  popular  in 
the  south,  first  by  his  favoring  the  admission  of  Missouri 
without  the  restricting  clause  in  question,  and  next  by  his 
able  and  timely  advocacy  of  the  compromise  on  which  the 
issue  was  settled.     During  the  whole  contest  he  had  been 
speaker,  but  at  the  next  session  he  resigned  on  account  of 
private  affairs,  and  John  W.  Taylor,  of   New  York,  was 
chosen  to  fill  his  place. 

Mr.  Taylor  was  the  embodiment  ot  one  ot  those  Aboli- 
tion Whigs  of  a  twenty-year-later  day  who  cared  more  for 
his  convictions  than  his  party.  He  was  opposed  to  the  ex- 
tension of  slavery,  and  was  in  favor  of  internal  improve- 
ments and  protective  tariff;  and  his  election  as  speaker 
may  be  reckoned  as  the  first  sign  of  disaffection  in  the  Re- 
publican ranks  from  which  ultimately  the  Whig  party 
germinated.  His  election  was  exceedingly  offensive  to  the 
southern  states. 

12.  Monroe's   Re-election. — Mr.    Monroe's  first    term 
was  now  near  its  close,  and  during  the  sanguinary  conflict 
that  it  witnessed,  his  moderation  had  won  universal  confi- 
dence.    No  other  one  seemed  so  competent  to  guide  the 
ship  of  state  as  he,  and  no  candidate  for  the  next  presiden- 
tial election  was  run  against  him. 

The  count  of  the  electoral  votes  for  President  showed 
235  for  Mr.  Monroe,  and  1  for  John  Quincy  Adams.  Daniel 
D.  Tompkins,  the  same  Vice-President  elected  with  Mr. 


808  NINTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

Monroe  for  the  first  term,  had  215  votes  for  re-election,  and 
14  votes  were  scattering. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  1821,  Monroe  and  Tompkins  were 
inaugurated. 


Political  Events  of  the  Ninth  Admin- 
istration. 

1.  The  "Era  of  Good  Feeling."— The  "Era  of  Good 
Feeling "  was  no   empty   name  wherewith  to  characterize 
the  second  term  of  Mr.  Monroe,  when  at  the  assembling  of 
the  XVIIth  Congress  came  together  senators  and   repre- 
sentatives with  no  antagonistic  issue  before  them.     The 
Missouri  compromise  had  quieted  the  apprehensions  of  any 
immediate  danger  to  the  slave  interests,  and  the  anti-slavery 
extensionists  felt  assured  that  this   same  obligation  had 
pledged  all  territory  north  of  36°  30',  the  dividing  line 
specified  in  the  act,  to  freedom. 

2.  New  Issues. — The  limits  and  rights  of  Congress  con- 
ferred by  the  Constitution  as  to  the  question  of  tariff,  bank- 
ing and    internal  improvements  has  never  been  defined, 
and,  as  these  were  the  only  questions  now  before  the  coun- 
try,  the  only   political   parties  then  in   practical  working 
order  were  loose  constructionists  and  strict  con-struction- 
ists,  terms  which  were  descriptive  rather  than  nominal. 

3.  Daniel   Webster   Opposed    a    Protective  Tariff. — 
Daniel  Webster  opposed  a  protective  tariff  as  a  national 
policy,  but  was  willing  to  modify  this  rule  to  suit  emergen- 
cies.    Henry  Clay  advocated  the  other  side,  and  the  debates 
in  the  Senate  between  these  two  opponents  on  these  oppos- 
ing interests  were  exhaustive,  and  have  since  that  time  fur- 
nished material  for  the  endless  controversy  that  has,  to  use 
a  metaphor,  played  "Yankee  Doodle"  with  variations  on 
thin  vocal  instruments  of  political  music — that  is,  as  a  policy 
of  political  economy. 

Europe  had  beaten  her  swords  into  plowshares  and  was 
now  raising  her  own  bread,  and  it  almost  seemed  as  if  the 
farmer's  occupation  was  gone.  There  was  little  earning  to 
dp  on  the  high  seas,  and  business  was  stagnated. 

4.  Increase  of  Tariff. — This  revived  the  question  of 
loose  construction  versus   strict  construction  to  ascertain 
what  could  constitutionally  be  done  to  give  relief,  and  on 
this  the  House  and  Senate  were  nearly  balanced,  leaving 
but  a  small  majority  in  favor  of  a  protective  tariff,  which 


NINTH   ADMINISTRATION.  809 

resulted  in  slightly    increasing  the  duties  on   articles  of 
American  manufacture. 

'5.  LaFayette. — In  the  summer  of  1824  the  American 
people  were  much  gratified  by  the  arrival  of  LaFayette, 
now  aged  and  gray,  who  returned  once  more  to  visit  the 
land  for  whose  liberty  he  had  fought  and  bled.  The  hon- 
ored patriots  as  well  as  the  younger  heroes,  who  had  learned 
from  their  fathers  his  claims  to  their  gratitude  and  love, 
came  forth  to  greet  him.  His  journey  through  the  country 
was  a  triumph.  At  the  grave  of  Washington  the  great 
patriot  of  France  wept  over  the  dust  of  the  great  patriot  of 
America.  His  name  will  ever  be  hallowed. 

6.  Alliances  with  American  Republics.— For  the  first 
time  an  issue  involving  a  policy,  as  to  alliances  with  Ameri- 
can   Republics,    now    came    before    Congress.      At    the 
suggestion  of   Bolivar,  ex-President  of  Columbia,  South 
America',  a  convention  of  representatives  from  Central  and 
South  American  republics  had  been   invited    to  meet  at 
Panama  to  take  into  consideration  measures  wherewith  to 
resist  Spain  in  her  determination  to  still  retain  American 
possessions  by  force  of  arms;  and  the  United  States  were 
invited  to  send  commissioners  to  this  convention. 

7.  A  New  Contest.  — A  discussion  ensued  in  which 
Webster,  Clay,  Calhoun,  Benton,  Hayne,  Woodbury,  and 
Others  engaged,  chiefly  defining  the  nature  of  the  instruc- 
tions to  be  given  to  the  commissioners. 

The  President  had  already  expressed  an  opinion  in  his 
message  to  Congress  on  this  subject.  On  preceding  pages 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  policy  of  the  administration  had 
been  well  defined,  which  was  the  frame  work  not  only  for 
the  representatives  to  the  Panama  convention  but  an  expo- 
sition of  American  policy  on  such  issues  ever  since  that  time. 

There  was  only  one  political  party  at  this  time,  and  the 
succeeding  presidential  election  was  necessarily  a  choice  of 
such  men  as  in  the  opinion  of  the  electors  were  the  best 
representatives  of  the  paramount  interests  of  the  country. 

8.  Nominating  Candidates. — A  caucus  for  nominating 
jandidates  had  been  called  by  Congress,  but  it  was  a  fail- 
ure, so  few  had  attended  it.     Moreover,  all  that  a  caucus 
could  do  in  the  way  of  nominating  candidates  for  President 
had  already  been  practically  done  in  debating  the  tariff 
question  in  Congress,  for  that  was  the  main  issue  before  the 
country  at  this  time,  and  he  whose  views  on  this  subject 
came  nearest  to  the  general  sense  of  Congress  and  the 
country  stood  the  best  chance  for  the- presidency. 


310 


NINTH  ADMINISTRATION 


LAFAYETTE. 

Henry  Clay,  Speaker  of  the  House;  William  H.  Cra.v- 
ford,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  John  Quincy  Adams,  Sec- 
retary of  State,  and  Andrew  Jackson  were  the  leading  can- 
didates for  the  President,  while  John  C.  Calhoun  was  sup- 
ported by  a  large  majority  for  Vice- President. 

9.  The  Election  of  John  Quincy  Adams  by  the  House. — 
There  were  then  261  electors,  and  of  these  99  voted  for 
Jackson,  84  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  41  for  Crawford  and  37 
tor  Clay;  182  were  cast  for  Calhoun  for  Vice-President,  and 
78  for  various  other  candidates.  This  elected  him,  but  no 
one  candidate  for  President  having  a  majority  over  all  the 
others,  no  choice  was  made,  and  the  election  went;  to  the 


TENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


311 


House  of  Representatives,  who  were  to  elect  a  President 
from  the  three  who  had  the  highest  number  of  votes  at  the 
electoral  college  convened  in  February,  1825,  succeeding 
the  November  election  of  1824. 

There  were  24  states,  of  which  13  voted  for  Adams,  7  for 
Jackson  and  4  for  Crawford,  after  having  a  long  and 
exciting  debate  on  the  issue.  Adams  and  Calhoun  were 
inaugurated  March  4,  1825. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS, 

Born  at  Braintree,  Norfolk  County,  Mass.. 

July  1  1,  1767. 

President  March  4,  1  825-March  4,  1829. 
Died  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  February  23,  1  848. 


Political  Events  of  the  Tenth  Admin- 
istration. 

i.  A  Bright  Page  in  Our  History. — The  sterling  vir- 
tues of  John  Quincy  Adams  when  he  assumed  the  Presi- 
dential chair,  form  a  bright  page  in  our  history,  all  the 
more  conspicuous  for  his  simplicity  and  the  absence  of  any 
subtlety  in  his  policy.  That  the  harmony  which  had  pre- 


312  TENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 

vailed  during  the  past  administration  had  been  substi- 
tuted for  a  more  heroic  policy  on  the  issues  which  were  now 
accumulating  as  the  country  increased  in  wealth,  was  to  be 
supposed. 

2.  The  Federalists  were  no  more  as  a  Party. — Though 
the  Federalists  were  no  more  as  a  party,  yet  they  had  be- 
queathed a  conservative  element  to  a  future  generation, 
which,  blended  with  a  veneration  for  their  memory,   sur- 
vived their  downfall,  and  to  a  certain  extent  is  still  manifest. 

3.  The  Charge  of  Conspiracy. — Mr.  Adams  was   not 
without  this  conviction,  and  both  himself  and  Mr.  Clay  had 
enough  independence  of  party  spirit  to  give  principles  the 
preference  to  all  else.    When  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives had  voted  by  states  and  elected  Mr.  Adams  as  Presi- 
dent, the  states  choosing  Clay  electors  had  voted  for  him, 
thereby  giving  him  a  majority.    This  aroused  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  states  which  had  voted  for  Gay  electors,  and  of 
the  Democrats  or  extreme  Republicans  as  well,  and  con- 
spiracy was  charged  upon  both  Mr.  Adams  and  Clay  to  in- 
sure  the    election    of    Mr.  Adams,   which    suspicion  was 
strengthened  by  Mr.  Adams  appointing  Mr.  Clay  as  Secre- 
tary of  State.    This  charge  was  solemnly  denied,  and  it  is 
proper  to  state  that  the  charge  was  never  proven,  even  by 
circumstantial  evidence. 

4.  Adams    and    Clay    Faction. — Public  convictions  in 
favor  of  the  principles,  at  a  later  date,  destined  to  be  the 
declared  policy  of  the  Whig  party,  seemed  to  be  gaining 
strength,  and  it  is  a  singular  fact  that  although  Mr.  Adams 
favored  the  growing  current  of  public  voice  toward  liberal 
construction,  yet  up  to  1828 — the  last  year  of  his  adminis- 
tration— Congress  did  not  sustain  him,  and  he  was  during  all 
this  time  in  an  antagonistic  position  toward  both  houses. 

Pending  this  interim,  the  term  "Adams  and  Clay  faction' 
was  frequently  applied  to  those  who  were  in  sympathy  with 
them  during  various  attempts  to  inaugurate  a  system  of 
internal  improvements.  But  this  "faction,"  as  it  was  called, 
finally  triumphed,  during  the  first  session  of  the  XXth  Con- 
gress, when  the  tariff  of  lb'28  was  passed,  giving  manufac- 
turers a  still  greater  protection. 

5.  Liberal  Appropriations  for  Internal  Improvements. 
The  same  Congress  made  liberal  appropriations  for  internal 
improvements  which  last  act  sustaining  Mr.  Adams'  admin- 
istration by  adopting  the  measures  he  had  recommended. 

6.  A  New  Party. — A  new  party  sprang    up    now    of 
which  Adams  was  the  acknowledged  leader,  which,  though 
standing  on  the  platform  of  the  subsequent    Whig    party 
styled  itself  National  Republicans. 


ELEVENTH    ADMINISTRATION.  313 

Jackson  was  the  champion  of  the  old  trunk  of  the  party 
that  dated  its  patent  as  an  inheritance  from  Jefferson,  and 
this  party  now  gloried  in  the  name  of  Democrats. 

Neither  party  claimed  any  credit  as  being  the  exponent 
of  the  old  federal  party,  for  the  reason  that  the  Federalists 
had  opposed  the  war  policy,  albeit  both  alike  revered  the 
memory  of  Washington  and  of  John  Adams,  the  latter  of 
whom  had  advocated  the  war,  and  the  former  was  reposing 
in  his  honored  tomb  before  the  war  had  been  declared. 

7.  Jackson  Elected  President.  The  time  for  selecting 
the  candidates  for  the  next  presidential  election  was  at 
hand,  the  system  of  national  conventions  now  in  use  had 
not  been  adopted,  but  in  lieu  of  it  the  different  state  legis- 
latures made  nominations,  and  common  consent  informally 
accepted  them. 

Hitherto  Congress  had  made  the  nominations,  and  the 
results  had  been  that  twice  the  elections  had  been  thrown 
into  the  House — the  last  time  with  a  suspicion  of  corrup- 
tion Andrew  Jackson  for  President  and  John  C.  Calhoun 
for  Vice-President  were  the  nominees  of  the  Democrats, 
and  John  Quincy  Adams  for  President  and  Richard  Rush, 
of  Pennsylvania,  for  Vice-President  were  nominated  by  the 
National  Republicans. 

That  the  two  were  the  ablest  representatives  of  their 
respective  parties  that  the  country  afforded  in  proven  by 
their  subsequent  record. 

In  February,  1829,  the  electoral  votes  were  counted,  show- 
ing for  Jackson  178  votes  and  for  Adams  83.  Calhoun  had 
171  votes  and  Rush  83.  The  popular  vote  was  647,231  for 
Jackson  and  509,097  for  Adams. 

Jackson  and  Calhoun  were  inaugurated  March  4, 1829. 


Political  Events  of  the  Eleventh 
Administration. 

I.  Jackson's  Greatness. — Andrew  Jackson  had  made  a 
record  before  his  election  by  using  cotton  bales  for  bul- 
warks when  New  Orleans  was  attacked  by  Packenham. 
The  victory  he  then  won  was  as  marvelous  as  his  method 
was  original.  Packenham  could  not  flank  him,  for  he  had 
the  Mississippi  on  his  right  and  Alligator  Swamp  on  his 
left.  Neither  could  a  British  officer  retreat  before  half  his 
number  of  raw  Yankees,  especially  those  who  knew  no 
more  about  rules  of  war  than  to  crowd  behind  bales  of 
cotton;  hence  the  result. 


314 


ELEVENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


ANDREW  JACKSON, 
Born  In  Waxhaw  Settlement,  North  Carolina, 

March  15,  1767. 

President  March  4-,  1  829-March  4,  1  837. 

Died  at  the  Hermitage,  near  Nashville,  Tenn., 

June  8,   184-5. 

But  even  if  Jackson  did  not  win  this  victory,  he  was 
nevertheless  an  original  character  whom  everybody  either 
loved  or  feared.  Once  a  ruffian  attacked  him.  Did  he  call 
for  help?  No.  He  pounded  him  into  submission  with  his  fist. 

The  writer,  when  a  child,  saw  5,000  girls,  who  worked  in 
the  factory  at  Lowell,  Mass.,  dressed  in  white  on  parade  to 
do  him  honor.  One  of  them,  in  her  extravagant  admira- 
tion for  Jackson,  approached  his  carriage  and  asked  the 
honor  of  kissing  him.  Unexpected  as  this  episode  was,  he 


ELEVENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  315 

leaned  his  sturdy  masculine  face  forward  and  received  the 
gentle  token  to  the  admiration  of  a  thousand  spectators. 

2.  His  Physical  Courage. — This  was  Jackson  in  a  new 
role,  but  it  was  an  index  of  the  homage  paid  him.     His 
moral  and  his  physical  courage  were  supreme.    His  assured 
cast  of  facial  expression  happily  blended  with  cordial  man- 
ners to  people  in  humbler  life,  won  all  hearts,  and  by  com- 
mon consent  dubbed  him  a  democrat  in  its  extremest  attri- 
bute. 

Opposition  added  strength  to  his  cause,  for  he  was  like 
a  ship  that  could  sail  but  in  rough  seas.  At  that  time  loose 
constructionists  generally  meant  high  tariff  men,  but  a  strict 
constructionist  was  not  necessarily  an  anti-tariff  man  on 
this  policy;  the  country  was  not  as  positively  divided  on 
party  lines  as  at  present. 

3.  Removals     from     Office     for     Political    Opinion's 
Sake. — Jackson  began  his  administration  by  a  sweeping 
removal  from  office  of  nearly  700  persons,  including  post- 
masters whose  political  opinions    had  been    opposed    to 
Democracy.    Up  to  this  time  the  removals  from  office  in 
the  former  administrations  had  been  as  follows:    By  Wash- 
ington, in  eight  years,  9,  one  of  which  was  for  defalcation; 
by  John  Adams,  in  four  years,  10,  one  of  which  was  for 
defalcation;  by  Jefferson,  in  eight  years,  39;  by  Madison,  in 
eight  years,  5,  three  of  which  were  for  defalcation;  by  Mon- 
roe, in  eight  years,  9,  six  of  which  were  for  causes  not  poli- 
tical; by  John   Quincy   Adams,   in   four  years,  2,  both  of 

which  were  for  causes  not  political.  * 

This  new  policy  of  removals  from  offices  for  political 
opinion's  sake  has  been  practiced  ever  since,  and  has  so 
thoroughly  been  adhered  to  that  its  propriety  of  late  years 
is  not  objected  to  except  by  a  small  minority.  It  took  a 
Jackson  to  inaugurate  it,  and  that  it  has  brought  strength  to 
his  party  is  generally  believed,  else  why  would  his  succes- 
sors do  the  same?  Is  it  for  patriotic  motives? 

4.  Three  Problems.— At    the    opening  of   the  XXIst 
Congress,  which  was  the  first  one  of  Jackson's  administra- 
tion, three  problems  were  before  the  nation — the  tariff  ques- 
tion, the  internal  improvement  question  and  the  banking 
question. 

5.  Different  Views. — The  old  Federal  party  had  been 
from  the  first  in  favor  of  all  of  them,  as  indispensable  to  the 
good  of  the  nation,  and  they  had  all  been  opposed  by  the 
National  Republicans,  but   adopted  reluctantly  when  an 
overwhelming  popular  will  demanded  them. 

6.  Jackson's  Policy.— On  the  subject  of  banking,  Jack- 
son in  his  first  message  took  ground  unfriendly  to  the 


316        .  ELEVENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

United  States  Bank,  that  had  been  chartered  in  1816  for 
twenty  years,  by  saying  that  it  had  failed  in  "  establishing  a 
uniform  and  sound  currency,"  and  suggested  in  place  of  it 
a  national  bank,  "  founded  on  the  credit  of  the  government 
and  its  revenues." 

In  the  same  message  he  recommended  a  distribution 
among  the  states  of  the  surplus  public  moneys  coming  from 
the  tariff,  as  a  means  whereby  internal  improvements  could 
be  made,  thereby  avoiding  the  infringement  of  "  a  question- 
able constitutional  right"  of  Congress  to  make  appropria- 
tions for  such  purposes. 

On  the  tariff  question  he  said,  that  "the  rule  to  be  ob- 
served in  graduating  the  duties  upon  foreign  products  \vas 
that  which  would  place  our  own  in  fair  competition  with  them. 

Notwithstanding  Jackson's  unfriendly  policy  toward  the 
United  States  Bank,  at  the  next  session  a  bill  to  recharter 
it  passed  both  Houses,  but  he  vetoed  it  July  10,  1832. 

7.  The  Tariff  of  1828.— The  tariff  of  1828,  which  was 
higher  than  any  former  one,  was  now  the  fixed  law  of  the 
land,  but  it  produced  great  discontent  in  the  South  among 
the  partisans  of  Democracy.     Calhoun,  the  Vice- President, 
was  a  Democrat,  and  at  a  later  date  in  Jackson's  first  ad- 
ministration the  collision  between  him  and  Jackson  came. 

8.  A  Bill   to  Limit  the   Sale  of  Public   Lands.— But 
while  the  Calhoun  policy  was  maturing  a  new  question  was 
sprung  upon  the  country  by  Mr.  Foote,  of  Connecticut.   The 
substance  of  Mr.  Foote's  proposition  was  a  bill  condition- 
ally to  limit  the  sale  of  public  lands,  for  prudential  reasons, 
but  extreme   constructions  of  it  had  resulted  in  partisan 
recriminations,  and  brought  into  the  debate  on  it  unex- 
pected issues. 

9.  The  State  Rights  Doctrine  Issue.— Mr.  Hayne,  of 
South  Carolina,  advocated  the  policy    of   investing    each 
state  with  the  "  control  of  all  the  public  lands  within  their 
respective  limits."    He  opposed  the  policy  of  "  creating  a 
great  national  treasury  from  the  state  public  lands  or  other 
sources.     ::    *    *     It  would  be  a  fund  for  corruption  fatal 
to  the  duration  of  our  institution,  and  to  the  sovereignty 
and  independence  of  the  states." 

Daniel  Webster  replied  to  Mr.  Hayne  in  a  speech  which 
has  become  famous  as  a  landmark  in  the  political  records 
of  the  United  States. 

This  great  senatorial  debate  fairly  reopened  the  State 
rights  doctrine  issue,  which  had  slumbered  since  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolutions,  in 
1 798—9. 

10.  Calhoun' s  Nullification  Policy  and  the  Breaking 
Up  of  Jackson's  Cabinet.— At  the  next  session  Calhoun 's 


ELEVENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  317 

nullification  policy  as  to  state  rights,  together  with  some 
disputes  between  himself  and  Jackson  growing  out  of  the 
Seminole  war,  ended  in  the  breaking  up  of  Jackson's  cabi- 
net, and  estranging  the  friendship  of  these  two  distin- 
guished exponents  of  Democracy— the  one,  Mr.  Calhoun, 
in  his  extreme  fidelity  to  state  rights,  announcing  a  princi- 
ple destined  to  be  settled  ultimately  by  the  sword,  and  the 
other,  Jackson,  not  venturing  over  that  line  of  demarkation 
which  could  only  be  defined  by  the  same  power.  Jackson 
vetoed  several  bills  for  internal  improvements,  but  signed 
two  important  ones,  thereby  committing  himself  to  the 
sanction  of  such  a  policy. 

11.  Calhoun' s  Influence. — After  the  dissolution  of  Jack- 
son's cabinet,  through  his  quarrel  with  Calhoun,  for  once  he 
was  circumvented  by  his  political  antagonists.     He   had 
nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  as  minister  to  England,  but 
through  Calhoun's  influence  the  Senate  failed,  to  confirm  it, 
and  to  give  point  to  the  blow  Calhoun,  through  his  influence 
in  the  Senate,  had  so  arranged    the  affair  that,  when  the 
vote  was  taken  there  should  be  a  tie,  thereby  giving  him 
the  satisfaction  of  rebuking  Jackson  by  his  casting  vote; 

12.  Repeal  of  the  Tariff  of  1828.— Calhoun  demanded 
the  repeal  of  the  tariff  of  1828,  and  threatened  secession  as 
an  alternative.    As  an  offset  to  this  aggressive  position, 
Jackson,  on  December  16, 1832,  issued  a  proclamation  to 
the  people,  accusing  the  nullifiers  of  treason,  and  warning 
them  of  the  fatal  consequence  of  this  course,  if  they  did  not 
desist. 

13.  Clay's  Compromise  Tariff  Bill.— A  new  tariff  bill 
was  soon  passed,  abating  the  rates  from  the  tariff  of  1828, 
#nd  the  next  year,  1833,  Clay's  compromise  tariff  bill,  pro- 
viding for  a  gradual   reduction  in  rates  until   1842,  after 
xwhich  only  20  per  cent,  on  all  importations  should  be  paid, 
quieted  the  country.     Both  sides  claimed  the  victory;  but 
Jackson's  fame  went  up   and  Calhoun's  down  under  the 
respective  pretensions  of  each. 

14.  Three  Political  Parties. — For  the  next  presidential 
election  there  were  three  political  parties  in  the  field — the 
Democrats,  the  National  Republicans  or  Whigs,  and  the 
Anti-Masons. 

15.  Origin  of  the  Anti-Mason  Party. — The  latter  party 
was  created  by  the  abduction  of  William  Morgan,  of  Baia- 
via,  N.  Y.,  from  his  home  in  September,  1826.    He  had 
published  a  book  claiming  to  have  exposed  the  secrets  of 
Free  Masonry.     Bills  of  indictment  were  found  against  sev- 
eral persons  engaged  .  in  the  abduction,  two  of  whom  had 
been  punished  by  imprisonment.    The  affair  caused  intense 

21 


318  ELEVENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 

excitement,  and  became  the  nucleus  for  a  new  political 
party  which  discriminated  against  Masons  as  public 
officers,  and  in  the  coming  tripartite  contest  for  President 
of  the  United  States  their  influence  was  felt. 

16.  National  Conventions. — The  Democrats   through- 
out the   entire  country  had  early  nominated  Jackson  by 
common   consent  as  candidate  for  a  second  term.     But 
candidates  for  President  had  now,  for  the  first  time,  to  be 
nominated  by  national  conventions,  held  for  that  special 
purpose.     Baltimore  was  the  place  fixed  upon  by  each  of 
the  three  political  parties  for  holding  them  respectively. 

17.  Nominations    of   the    Anti-Mason    Convention. — 
That  of  the  Anti-Masons  came  off  first,  the  time  of  whose 
meeting  was  in  September,  1831.    William  Wirt,  of  Vir- 
ginia, was  their  candidate  for  President,  and  Amos  Ell- 
maker,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  Vice-President.    The   entire 
party,  with  a  few  exceptions,  were  composed  of  National 
Republicans. 

18.  Nominations  of  the  National  Republican  Conven- 
tion.— In  the  succeeding  month  the  National   Republican 
convention  met  and  nominated  Henry  Clay'for  President, 
and  John  Sergeant,  of   Pennsylvania,  for  Vice-President. 
Internal  improvements,  banking  and  protective  tariff  was 
the  policy  which  they  advocated,  and  they  did  not  hesitate 
to  declare  it  in  their  platform,  which  was  the  first  time  any 
party  had  dared  to  take  such  a  step,  so  great  had  the  hesi- 
tancy hitherto  been  in  the  popular  mind  to  advocate  such  a 
policy. 

19.  Nominations  of  the  Democratic  Convention. — The 
Democratic  convention  met  in  March,  1832.     It   had  only 
to  confirm  the  nomination  of  Jackson;  and   Martin  Van 
Buren,  of  New  York,  was  nominated  for  Vice-President, 
thereby  rebuking  the  Calhoun  faction,  which  had  defeated 
his  appointment  as  minister  to  England. 

20.  The  Election.— The  popular  election  came  off  the 
following  November,  and  when  the  votes  of  the  electoral 
college  were  counted  the  succeeding   February,  in  1833, 
Jackson  had  219,  and  Van  Buren  only  189,  the   Pennsyl- 
vania electors  having  given  their  support  to  Wm.  Wilkins, 
of  their  own  state.    Clay  and  Sergeant  had  each  49  votes, 
and  Wirt  and  Ellmaker,  the  Anti-Masonic  candidates,  7 
votes  each,  which  were  from  the  Vermont  electors. 

South  Carolina  doggedly  refused  to  affiliate  with  any  of 
the  parties,  and  cast  her  11  votes  for  John  Floyd,  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  Henry  Lee,  of  Massachusetts. 

The  popular  vote  for  Jackson  was  687,502,  and  for  Clay 
530,189.  Jackson  and  Van  Buren  were  inaugurated  March 
4,1833. 


TWELFTH  ADMINISTRATION.  319 

Twelfth  Administration. 

1.  Slavery  Question. — Says    Cooper,  in    speaking    of 
this  administration:  "Agitation  of  the  slavery  question  in 
the  United  States  really  began  about  this  time.     Evil  dis- 
posed persons  had  largely  circulated  through  the  United 
States  southern  states  pamphlets  and  circulars  tending  to 
stir  up  strife  and  insurrection;  and  this  had  become  so  intol- 
erable that  it  was  referred  to  by  the  President  in  his  mes- 
sage."   Congress,  at  the  session  of  1836,  was  flooded  with 
petitions  and   memorials   urging    Federal   interference    to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  states,  beginning  with  the  petition  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  of  Philadelphia  urging  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in   the   District   of  Columbia.     These  petitions 
were  referred  to  committees  after  an  acrimonious  debate, 
as  to  whether  they  should  be  received  or  not. 

2.  The  Position  of  the  Government. — The  position  of 
the  government  at  that  time  is  embodied  in  the  following 
resolutions,  which  was  adopted  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives as  early  as  1790,  and  substantially  reaffirmed  in  1836, 
as   follows:    "That  Congress   has  no  authority  to  interfere 
in  the  emancipation  of  slaves  or  in  the  treatment  of  them 
within  any  of  the  states;  it  remains  with  the  several  states 
to  provide  any  regulations  therein  which  humanity  and  true 
policy  may  require." 

At  this  time  the  abolition  question  was  regarded  as  a 
sickly  sentimentality,  transient  in  its  course,  and  no  poli- 
tician set  his  sails  for  its  breezes,  although  such  men  as  John 
Quincy  Adams  never  hesitated  to  act  in  harmony  with  the 
movement,  on  issues  that  were  preliminary  to  the  ultimate 
end,  such  as  abolition  of  slaves  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  to  do  which  was  claimed  by  this  unpopular  party,  but 
denied  by  the  great  majority  of  the  two  main  parties. 

3.  The  United  States   Bank  Question.— The  United 
States  Bank  question  was  the  important  question  to  be  con- 
sidered.    The  country  needed  a  staple  currency  as  well  as 
the  administration.     Both  had  been  losers  by  the  deprecia- 
tion of  questionable  bank  paper,  and  in  casting  about  for  a 
remedy  there  was  a  clear  majority  in  both  Houses  to  re- 
charter  the  United  States   Bank,  whose  original   charter 
expired  by  limitation  in  1836. 

4.  Deposit  of  Public  Funds. — By  the  legal  provision  in 
1816  the  public  funds  had  been  deposited  in  it  and  must 
continue  to  be,  unless  remedied  by  order  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  who  was  to  use  his  own  discretion  as  to  the 
necessity  of  doing  it  as  a  matter  of  safety  after  having 
examined  the  soundness  of  the  bank. 


320  TWELFTtf  ADM INIST RATION. 

5.  Removal  of  Deposits. — Lacking  in  his  convictioft 
against  the  policy  of  continuing  the  bank,  Jackson  requested 
Mr.  McLane,  the  Secretary,  to  make  no  new  deposits  therein, 
whereupon  Mr.  McLane  examined  the  liabilities  of  the  bank 
and  found  its  assets  abundantly  large  to  secure  them,  in  his 
estimation,  and    refused   to  obey   the   Presidential   order. 
Jackson   promptly    removed    him    and    appointed   Mr.   J. 
Duane  to  succeed  him,  but  he  also  declined  to  follow  his 
instructions,  and  in  turn  was  removed  and  Roger  B.  Taney 
appointed.     Mr.  Taney  conceded  to  the  President's  wishes 
by  removing  the  deposits  and  distributing  them  in  various 
banks  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 

6.  Caricatures  to  Vilify  the  President.— The  Whigs 
looked  upon  this  measure  with  intense  hospitality,  and  the 
picture  makers  in  New  York  had  enough  to  do  to  make  the 
caricatures  to  vilify  the  President.   The  Jacksonians  claimed 
that  the  administration  was  justified  in  this  act,  even  if  the 
bank  was  sound,  as  it  aimed  a  blow  at  the  power  too  great 
for  the  good  of  the  nation. 

NOTE. — The  writer,  then  a  young  lad  in  New  York,  sold 
many  of  these  caricatures.  Jacob  Little,  a  great  financier 
in  New  York,  was  a  good  customer  for  them. 

7.  The  Doctrine  of  "  Popular  Rights."— Many  upheld 
Jackson  because  he  had  dared  to  attack  the  moneyed  inter- 
ests of  the  country.     He  was  the  standard  bearer  of  the 
doctrine  of  "  popular  rights."     He  had  advocated  the  plan 
of  distributing  the  public  money  in  the  United  States  Treas- 
ury among  the  states.     When  Henry  Clay  introduced  a  res- 
olution into  the  XXIIId  Congress  to  distribute  the  proceeds 
from  the  sale  of  public  lands  among  the  states,  this  meas- 
ure was  opposed  by  the  leading  Democrats,  although  it  was 
a  popular  one.     Benton  spoke  against  it  with  great  vehe- 
mence, and  Jackson  did  not  now  advocate  the  bill,  but  had 
misgivings  as  to  its  propriety.     Clay  pressed  the  matter 
and  secured  its  passage  at  the  next  session.     It  passed  the 
Senate  by  a  vote  of  38  for  to  6  against,  and  the  House  by 
155  votes  for  to  38  against  it.     Jackson  signed  it  with  reluc- 
tance, but  had  he  not  done  so  it  would,  nevertheless,  have 
become  a  law  by  the  same  vote  by  which  it  was  passed.   By 
its  provision  the  distributed  funds  were  lent  to  the  states 
instead  of  being  given  to  them. 

8.  The  Territory  of  Texas.— The  United  States,  in  the 
treaty  by  which  Florida  had  been  acquired  of  Spain  in  1819, 
relinquished  to  that  power  the  country  lying  between  the 
Sabine  and  Rio  Grande  rivers,  called  Texas.    The  inhabit- 
ants of  the  territory  were  largely  composed  of  a  nonde- 
script class  of  adventurers  from  the  United  States-^pliable 


TWELFTH   ADMINISTRATION.  321 

material  for  any  enterprise  that  required  dash  and  tough- 
ness. Among  them  were  not  a  few  outlaws — the  whole 
mass  preserved  by  the  leaven  of  such  men  as  Sam  Hous- 
ton, Moses  Austin,  and  some  literary  reporters  from  New 
York  press. 

9.  Slavery  in  Texas. — Slavery  had  been  early  intro- 
duced into  Texas  while  under  the  government  of  the  Mex- 
ican republic,    which  did  not  recognize  this    institution. 
There  is  evidence  that  ever  since  1807  southern  propa- 
gandists had,  through  Aaron  Burr  and  others,  contemplated 
either  the  annexation  of  Texas  or  a  separate  confederacy 
including  it. 

10.  War  with  Mexico. — Texas  proclaimed  her  inde- 
pendence   March  2, 1836.    War  with  Mexico  ensued,  and 
sympathizing  spirits  in  large  numbers  flew  from  the  south- 
ern states  across  the  Sabine  to  assist  the  Texans  in  their 
fight.    The  war  was  begun  during  Jackson's  second  term, 
and  he  said  in  his  message,  "Hands  off."    The  Texan 
cause  gained  ground,  constantly  propelled  by  the  momen- 
tum of  Texan  valor  and  American  emigration  thither  to 
share  the  dangers  and  the  glories  of  a  "  Texan  ranger." 

11.  Prelude   to   Annexation. — The  independence     of 
Texas  was  acknowledged  by  the  United  States  during  the 
last  session  of  Congress  in  Jackson's  second  term.    This 
was  the  most  decisive  step  the  government  had  yet  taken, 
the  apparent  result  of  which  would  add  strength  to  the 
South  in  her  struggle  with  the  North  on  the  slavery  issue. 
It  was  a  prelude  to  annexation,  without  which  the  ultimate 
end  to  which  southern  ambition  aimed    would  not  have 
been  gained,  and  the  expected  annexation  came  according 
to  the  program. 

12.  *Close  of  Jackson's  Administration. — Jackson's  ad- 
ministration was  now  drawing  to  a  close.     Both  his  terms 
had  been  marked  by  decisive  acts  that  left  their  impress  on 
the  nation  to  be  felt.    Martin  Van  Buren  was  a  confidential 
friend  and  adviser  of    Jackson,  and  it  was  through  his 
influence  that  he  was  made  the  candidate  for  his  place. 

13.  The    Nominating    Convention. — The    nominating 
convention  came  off  in  Baltimore,  May,  1835,  and  Mr.  Van 
Buren  and  Richard  M.  Johnson  became  the  Democratic 
candidates.     No  platform  was  adopted,  for  the  reason  that 
the  party  had  declared  a  policy,  well  known  and  not  diffi- 
cult to  be  understood  by  the  masses.    It  was  hostile  to 
banks,  high  tariff  and  internal  improvements  at  the  public 
expense.    The  Whig  policy    involved  grand  schemes  oi 
speculation,  in  which  banks,  high  tariff  and  internal  im- 
provements were  to  be  necessary  factors. 

*Two  states  were  added  during  this  administration:   Arkansaa  in 
J836,  and  Michigan,  January,  1837. 


322 


TWELFTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


14.  The  Result  of  Election.— The  Whigs  divided  their 
scattered  forces  on  several  candidates  who  had  been  nomi- 
nated by  different  interests,  including  in  their  ranks  Anti- 
Masons  and  Abolitionists,  and  when  the  electoral  college 
met  in  February,  1837,  the  votes  were  counted,  and  for  Presi- 
dent, Van  Buren  had  170;  for  Vice-President,  Johnson  had  147. 

The  Whig  candidates  were:  Wm.  H.  Harrison,  for 
President,  who  had  73  votes;  Daniel  Webster,  candidate 
for  the  same  office,  had  14  votes;  Francis  Granger,  candi- 
date for  Vice-President,  had  77  votes;  John  Tyler  had  47 
votes  for  the  same  office.  There  were  other  scattering 
votes  on  both  sides,  but  no  choice  was  made  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  the  election  for  one  went  to  the  House,  when 
Johnson  was  chosen.  The  popular  vote  for  the  Democratic 
ticket  was  761,549.  That  of  the  opposition  was  736,656. 

Van  Buren  and  Johnson  were  inaugurated  March  3,  1837 


"QUEEN  OF  THE  OCEAN," 


THIRTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


323 


MARTIN  VAN  BUREN, 

Born  at  Kinderbook,  Columbia  County,  New  York, 

Decembers,  1782. 

President  March  4, 1837-March  4,1841. 
Died  at  Kinderbook  July  24,  1  862. 

Thirteenth  Administration. 

1.  A  General  Bank  Explosion. — Says  A.  W.  Young:  "  Mr. 
Van  Buren's  accession  to  the  presidency  occurred  at  an  un- 
propitious  period.     The  pecuniary  pressure  which  followed 
the  issuing  of  the  specie  circular,  and  which  was  already 
general  and  severe,  was  rapidly  approaching  its  crisis. 
This  pressure  was  extensively  regarded  as  the  natural  re- 
sult of  a  policy  which  he  was  pledged  to  continue.    In  May, 
the  event  for  some  time  anticipated  by  many — a  general 
bank  explosion — took  place.    The  banks  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  by  common  consent,  suspended  specie  payment.   The 
banks  in  other  cities  were  compelled  to  adopt  the  same 
course.    In  the  state  of  New  York  the  Legislature  legalized 
the  suspension  for  one  year. 

2.  The  Causes. — Among  the  causes  to  which  the  sus- 
pension of  specie  payment  was  ascribed  were  the  divisions 
of    specie  to  the  West,  and  the  drain  upon  the  banks  in 
the  Atlantic  cities  for  exportation  to  Europe,  to  pay  for  the 
txcessive  importations  of  goods.    Another  cause  of  the  de- 

of  the  currency  was  supposed  to  be  the  large 


324:  THIRTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

loans  made  by  the  banks  having  on  deposit  the  surplus  rev. 
enue  with  the  expectation  that  it  would  remain  with  them 
until  called  for  by  the  general  government.  Instead,  how- 
ever, of  being  permitted  to  retain  these  funds  as  a  basis 
for  the  extension  of  their  loans,  they  were  unexpectedly  de- 
manded for  the  purpose  of  distribution  among  the  states; 

3.  Mercantile    Failures. — The   speculation   and   enor- 
mous appreciation  of  property  during  the  last  two  or  three- 
years  was  followed  by  a  revulsion,  and  a  corresponding  de- 
preciation.    Mercantile  failures  in  the  commercial  cities, as- 
Boston,  New  York  and  New  Orleans,  exceeding  in  number 
and   amount,  probably,  any  that  ever  occurred  witnm  anj 
equal   period  of  time,  took   place  in  a  few  months  before- 
and  after  the  suspension.     Representations  of  the  vast  de- 
preciation of  property,  and  of  the  general  prostration  ofbusi-' 
ness,  were  made  to  the  President,  with  request  f-o  rescind- 
the  specie  circular,  and  to  call  an  extra  meeting  of  Con- 
gress.    On  the  15th  of  May,  a  few  days  after  the  Gtispen- 
sion  in  the  city  of  New  York,  a  proclamation  was  issued 
for  convening  Congress  on  the  first  Monday  in  September,- 

4.  Act   Regulating  the   Deposits. — Under  the  provis- 
ions of  the  resolutions  of  1816,  and  by  the  act  of  1836,  regu- 
lating the  deposits,  the  Federal    officers  were  prohibited 
from  receiving  or  paying  out  the  notes  of  any  but  specie 
paying  banks.    And  the  deposit  banks,  as  well  as  others, 
had   now  suspended.     Under  existing  laws,  therefore,  no 
collections   or  disbursements   of    public  money  could   be 
made.     If  done  at  all  it  must  be  done  in  violation  of  law. 

5.  The  President's  Message. — Pursuant  to  the  proc- 
lamation, Congress  assembled  on  the  4th  of  September, 
1837.    The    President's   message  was    almost  exclusively 
devoted  to  the  banks  and  currency,  the  causes  of  the  exist- 
ing difficulties  and  their  remedy.    He  suggested  the  entire 
disuse  of  banks  as  fiscal  agents  of  the  government,  the  col- 
lection, safe  keeping,  transfer  and   disbursements  of  the 
public  money  by  officers  of  the  government,  and  of  the 
employment  of  specie  alone  in  its  fiscal  operations.    It  was 
the    recommendation    of    the    sub-treasury    scheme.     He 
believed  the  exclusive  use  of  specie  a  practical  operation. 
Of  the  seventy  or  eighty  millions  in  the  country,  ten  mill- 
ions would  be  sufficient  for  the  purpose,  if  the  accumula^ 
tion  of  a  large  surplus  revenue  were  prevented     The  large 
increase  in  specie  since  the  act  of  1834  had  contributed 
largely  to  the  feasibility  of  the  measure.    The  gold  coinage 
alone  had  been   since  August,   1834,  ten   millions,  which 
exceeded    the    whole    coinage  at  the  mint  during  the   31 
previous  years. 


THIRTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  325 

6.  Bills   Passed. — The    bill  authorizing   the  issue    of 
treasury  notes,  the  bill  for  adjusting  the  remaining  claims 
on  the  late  deposit  banks  and  the  bill  to  extend  the  time  of 
payment  on  merchant  revenue  bonds  all  passed  the  Senate 
on  the  19th  of  September.      By  the  last  of  these  bills  the 
time  of  payment  or  the  obligations  given  by  merchants  for 
the  payment  of  duties  on  goods  imported  was  extended  nine 
months. 

7.  Sub-Treasury  Bill. — The    bill  known    as  the  Sub- 
Treasury    Bill,  reported  by  Mr.  Wright  on  the  14th,  was 
taken  up  in   the  Senate  on  the  19th,  when   Mr.    Calhoun 
offered  the  amendment  of  which  he  gave  notice  at  the  time 
of  his  speech  on  the  bill  to  authorize  the  issue  of  treasury 
notes,  viz.,  requiring  the  eventual  payment  in  specie  of  all 
money  due  to  the  government,  familiarly  called  "  the  specie 
clause."     This  amendment  was  debated  by  Messrs.  Niles, 
Benton,  Walker,  Calhoun  and  Buchanan,  in  support  of  it; 
and   Messrs.  Talmadge,  Clay,  Webster,  King,  of  Georgia; 
arid  Preston  in  opposition.     The  amendment  was  adopted 
on  the  2d  of  October  ;  yeas,  24  ;  nays,  23. 

8.  Petitions  for   the  Abolition  of   Slavery. — A  large 
number  of  petitions  for  the  abolition  of   slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  and  remonstrances  against  the  annex- 
ation of  Texas  were  received  at  the  extra  session.    A  reso- 
lution was  proposed  to  be  offered  by  Mr.  Adams,  "That  the 
power  of  annexing  the  people  of  any  independent  foreign 
state  to  this  Union  is  a  power  not  delegated  by  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  to  their  Congress,  or  to  any  depart- 
ment of  their  government,  but  reserved  to  the  people."  But 
the  motion  being  decided  out  of  order,  the  resolution  was 
not  received  nor  read. 

9.  The  XXVIth  Congress.— The   last   Congress  (the 
XXVth)    was    not    distinguished    for    party  action.    The 
XXVIth  Congress  opened  December  2,  1839.    The  Whigs 
had  gained  in  strength  and  numbers  in  the  House,  and  after 
an  acrimonious,   not  to  say  desperate  contest^  R.   M.  T. 
Hunter,  a  Whig,  was  chosen  speaker.     He  was  in  favor  of 
the  sub-treasury  scheme/which  was  the  "last  feather"  that 
turned  the  scale  of  the  election  in  his  favor,  and  the  sub- 
treasury  bill  passed  during  this  session. 

10.  Promises  of  Gold  and  Silver  Currency.— Notwith- 
standing that  the  general  crash  in  the  financial  interests  of: 
the  country  had  affected  all  classes,  yet  the  old-time  Demo-* 
crats  were  firm  in  their  first  love.    The  promises  of  gold, 
and  silver  currency  was  a  flattering  prospect  to  them,  and 
so  confidently  did  some  of  them  look  forward  to  this  "good 
time  coming"  that  they  made  it  a  rule  to  demand  specie 

22 


326  -     THIRTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

for  whatever  they  had  to  sell.  On  the  other  hand  the  bank- 
ing and  trading  men  of  the  country  and  all  that  class  who 
favored  public  improvements  at  the  expense  of  the  state, 
who  were  in  favor  of  high  tariff  and  high  prices,  v/ere 
banded  together  in  a  firm  alliance  (under  the  general  name 
of  Whigs). 

11.  The  Abolitionists. — In  the    ranks    of    the  Whigs 
were    the   anti-slavery    advocates — the    anti-Masons — and 
metaphysicians    in   sentimentalism,  in  various  spheres  of. 
thought,  more  frequently  then  made  the  subjects  of  specu- 
lation than  in  the  present  age.    Contrary  to  the  expecta- 
tions of  the  Whigs,  the  Abolitionists  organized'  a  distinct 
party.     But   this  movement  was  looked  upon  by  the  great 
mass  of  even  both   contending  parties,  as   ultra-montane, 
a  mere  ripple,  soon  to  be  submerged  in  the  great  waves  of 
the  sea  of  public  interests,; 

12.  Candidates  for  the  Presidency. — The  Whig  National 
convention    met   at    Harrisburg,    Pa.,    December  4,   1839. 
It  adopted  no    platform  —  was    silent  on  the   subject  of 
slavery — but,  in  order  to  secure  southern  support,  after 
having  nominated  William  Henry  Harrison  as  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  nominated  John  Tyler  for  Vrce-Presi- 
dent.    Except  Calhoun  himself,  they  could  not  have  selected 
a  man  who  better  represented  southern  principles. 

13.  The  Anti-Slavery   Convention. — The  Anti-Slavery 
convention,  the  first  of  its  kind,  was  held  at  Albany,  April 
1,  1840.     In  it  the  Liberal  party  was  organized,  and  James, 
G.  Burney  was  nominated  as  its  candidate  for  President, 
and   Thomas    Earle,    candidate    for  Vice-President.     The 
Democratic    convention   was    held    at   Baltimore,   May  5, 
1840.     It  denied  the  constitutional  rights  of  Congress  to 
protect  manufacturers  by  a  tariff,  any  further  than  a  revenue 
tariff  for  the  general  good  of  all  classes  would  do  it,  and  also 
denied  its  right   to   make   internal   improvements  at   the 
expense  of  the  public  treasury,  or  to  charter  a  bank.     It 
also  denied  the  right  of  Congress  to  interfere  with  slavery 
in  the  states  —  a  right  that  even  the  liberty  party  did  not 
then  claim.    They  nominated  the  same  candidates  as  had 
been  successful  in  their  last  campaign  —  Van  Buren  and 
Johnson. 

14.  The  Contest. — The  contest  that  followed  was  an  ex- 
citing one.     It  was  in  the  main  between  the  wealth  produc- 
ing interests,  by  means  of  banking  and  a  protective  tariff 
on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  more  domestic  classes  of 
men  who  were  willing  to  go  a  little  slower  on  the  road  to 
wealth   and  national  grandeur— men  to  whom  the  terms, 
wealth  and  fame  were  more  significant  of  such  physical 


FOURTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  327 

conditions  as  food,  raiment,  and  military  glory,  than  of  tall 
church-spires,  architectural  domes,  and  millions  behind 
them. 

15.  Long-Haired    Philosophers.  —  The    Abolitionists 
were,  as  a  rule,  cynical,  and  were  sometimes  called,  in  de- 
rision,  "long-haired   philosophers,"  "freedom    shriekers," 
and  other  epithets  in  a  spirit  of  contempt. 

16.  Two  Great  Journalistic  Exponents. — The  issue  at 
stake  brought  the  best  talent  of  the  country  into  the  arena. 
Thurlow  Weed,  the  editor  of  the  Albany  Evening  Journal, 
and  Hezekiah  Niles,  edi'tor  of  Niles'  Register,  were  the  two 
great  journalistic  exponents  of  the  Whigs,  and  the  former 
(Mr.  Weed)  having  been  attracted  by  the  force  of  Horace 
Greeley's  editorials  in  the  New  Yorker,  secured  his  services 
to  the  cause  of  the  W7higs  and  their  tariff  policy;  and  young 
Greeley  was  made  the  editor  of  the  Log  Cabin,  published 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Whig  state  committee  of  New 
York.     This  was  the  occasion  that  introduced  that  eminent 
journalist  into  prominence,  who  was  destined  ultimately  to 
exert  such  a  world  wide  influence. 

17.  The    Popular    Election. — The     popular    election 
passed  off  in   November,   1840.    Amid  the  vocal  din  of 
log  cabin  songs,  interlined  with  something  about  hard  cider 
and  Harrison's  latch  string  always  hanging  outside  of  the 
door  (on  the  part  of  the  Whigs.)    While  the  Democrats 
were  almost  as  talkative   about   "  Dick  Johnson "  having 
slain  Tecumseh  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames. 

18.  The  Electoral  Votes.— When  the  electoral  votes 
were  counted  the  following   February,   1841,  they  stood: 
For  Harrison  and  Tyler,  234;  for  Van  Buren,  60;  for  John- 
son, 48.    There  were  some  scattering  votes  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

The  popular  vote  was  more  nearly  equal,  being:     For 
Harrison,  1,275,017;  for  Van  Buren,  1,128,702. 

Harrison  and  Tyler  were  inaugurated  March  4, 1841. 


Fourteenth  Administration. 

i.  A  Whig  Majority  in  the  Senate  and  House. — Among 
points  of  solicitude  by  the  Democrats,  none  were  more 
objectionable  to  them  than  the  possibility  of  the  overthrow 
of  the  Jacksonian  policy,  concerning  both  the  "tariff"  and 
the  "bank."  The  fact  that  there  was  a  Whig  majority  in 
the  Senate  and  House,  was  made  more  conspicuous  by  the 


328 


FOURTEENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 


WM.  H.  HARRISON, 

Born  at  Berekely,  Charles  City  County,  Virginia, 

February  9,  1773. 

President  March  4,  i84i-April  4,  1841. 
Died  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  April  4,  1841. 

message  of  President  Harrison,  who  called  for  an  extra 
session  to  meet  on  the  31st  of  May;  but  which  he  was  nevei 
permitted  to  witness,  in  consequence  of  his  death  on  the 
4th  of  April. 

2.  Abolition  of  the  Sub-Treasury  Project. — John  Tyler 
now  being  the  head  of  the  nation,  immediately  a  bill  was 
offered  and  passed  for  the  abolition  of  the  sub-treasury 
project,  and  received  Tyler's  signature  forthwith.  The 
Whigs  had  determined  upon  a  line  of  work,  -in  full  accord 
with  their  principles,  and  one  of  these  was  to  establish  a 
central  system  of  finance.  An  introductory  measure  was 
the  establishing  of  a  bank  for  this  purpose.  To  accomplish 
this,  a  bill  to  create  "The  Fiscal  Bank  of  the  United 


FOURTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  329 

States,"  with  a  capital  of  $30,000,000,  was  introduced,  con- 
taining a  clause  by  which  the  capital  might  be  raised  to 
850,000,000  if  needed.  It  passed  to  a  vote,  and  the  follow- 
ing is  the  result:  In  the  house,  128  yeas  to  97  nays;  in  the 
senate  26  yeas  to  23  nays;  being  purely  a  party  vote. 

The  bill  was  vetoed  by  Tyler  because  it  contemplated  a 
discount  business;  whereas,  he  thought  it  should  have  been 
only  a  bank  of  exchange;  he  also  objected  that  certain 
states,  which  were  entitled  by  the  bill  to  have  branches, 
had  not  given  their  consent.  To  placate  him  a  new  bill 
adapted  to  his  views  was  formed  and  passed,  only  to 
receive  again  the  fatal  veto. 

3.  The  Cabinet  Resigns. — This  second  veto  taught  the 
Whigs  the  futility  of  attempting  to  adapt  themselves  to 
his  exacting  methods,  and  filled  the  entire  party  with  indig- 
nant   astonishment.     Their    hopes     were    blasted.    The 
Cabinet,  with    the    exception  of    Webster,   resigned;  he, 
holding  the   helm   of  state  as  secretary,  still  hoped  so  to 
steer  the  craft  that  she  might  not  leave  the  open  sea  of  a 
Whig  administration.     Clay  called  Tyler  to  account  in  his 
terse  and  forcible  words,  and  charged  him  with  apostacy  in 
terms  that  met  the  party's  approval.  Thomas  Ewing,  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  in  conversation  with  the  President, 
was  heard  to  say  that  Tyler  would  have  signed  the  second 
bill  had  there  been  only  a  slight   change  in  it;  in  fact,  only 
the  prohibition  from  dealing  in  other  than  foreign  exchange 
and    inter-state    bills.    At  the  same  time    the   President 
expressed  a  wish  to  Webster  that  such  a  new  bill  be  drawn 
and  presented  to  Congress.    At  this  extra  session  a  bank- 
*upt  law  was  passed. 

4.  Asking  the  Dissolution  of  the  Union. — It  was  also 
provided  by  enactment  that  the  funds  from  the  sale  of  pub- 
lic lands  be  distributed  among  the  several  states  on  con- 
dition that  the  tariff  of  1833  should  remain  as  it  was. 

This  was  a  sort  of  funeral  iarewell  to  the  dead  bank  as  the 
Whigs  dared  not  attempt  to  restore  it  under  the  widespread 
aversion  to  it  as  expressed  in  the  popular  voice.  Amid 
these  twin  troubles— the  bank  and  the  tariff — there  came 
from  Haverill,  Mass.,  a  petition,  signed  by  46  per- 
sons, and  presented  by  John  Quincy  Adams  asking  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  because  of  equal  benefits  con- 
ferred upon  different  states  in  the  interest  of  slavery.  The 
Senate  stood  aghast  that  this  southern  bit  of  dissolution 
should  have  been  projected  across  their  horizon  from  fair 
and  stable  Massachusetts.  In  two  weeks'  time  the  northern 
patriots  had  ample  opportunity  to  score  the  southern,  whose 
fiery  eyes  showed  more  of  hate  for  the  audacious  petition 


330  FOURTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


JOHN  TYLER, 

Born  in  Charles  City -County,  Virginia, 

March  29,  1790. 

President  April  4,  i84i-March  4,  1845. 
Died  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  Januaiy  17,  1862. 

than  love  for  the  Union;  but  the  greatest  censure  came  from 
those  who  later  were  the  most  active  participants  in 
secession,  and  those  offered  Mr.  Adams  the  greatest 
affronts;  simply  defending  the  right  of  petition  he  had  pre- 
sented this,  and  not  because  he  was  in  any  way  in  sympathy 
with  it. 

5.  Revenues     Insufficient. — Concerning    the    tariff  of 
1833  it  may  be  noticed  that  it  gave  a  20  per  cent,  ad  valorem 
upon  all  importations   after  June  30,  1842.     During  the  last 
fiscal  year  the   receipts    from  it   had   so  far  failed   that  it 
became   necessary  to  raise  $1^,000,000   for  currency   use; 
thus  proving  the  revenues  insufficient. 

6.  Attempts  to  Raise   the  Tariff. — The  distribution  of 
proceeds  of  land  sales  to  the   several  states  was  a  Whig 
measure  to  assist  them  in  the  payment  of  foreign  claims. 
The  fact  that  this  distribution  was  hedged  behind  the  pledge 
to  raise  the  tariff  of   1833,  and   that  the  compromise  would 
be  violated  if  so  raised,  was  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  emer- 
gency.   Two  attempts  to   raise  the  rates  of  the  tariff  failed, 
but  a  third  was  successful  and  was  passed  without  receiving 
the  distribution  bill.     From  that  time  on  the  tariff  held  a 
higher  rate  than  20  per  cent.,  and,  in  consequence,  the  land 


FOURTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  331 

money  distribution  became  a  nullity  of  the  past.  The  Presi- 
dent gave  this  bill  raising  the  tariff  his  signature. 

7.  Annexation  of  Texas. — Following  these  questions, 
the  bank  and  the  tariff,  the  annexation  of  Texas  became  the 
one  theme  of  exciting  interest.     Southern  Whigs  and  the 
Democrats  favored  it.     Calhoun   advocated  it  as  a  way  to 
hold  the  balance  of  power.     Clay  opposed  it,  and  Webster 
as  well,  yet  they  were  unable  to  defeat  it  before  the  second 
session  of  the  XXVIIIth  Congress.    The  liberty  party  gave 
their  opposition,  all  unavailing.     The  3d  of  March,  1845,  saw 
Florida  become  one  of  the  states  of  the  Union,  and,  because 
it  was  south  of  the   Missouri  compromise  line,  36°  30',  the 
slavery  of  the  South  became  her  legal  heritage. 

8.  Nominations  for  the  Next  Presidential  Election.— 
Pending  this  administration,  with  a  Whig  majority  in  both 
Houses,  and  the    Democrats  holding   the  reins  through  a 
Whig  President  with  Democratic  tendencies,there  was  little 
to  be  done  but  to  wait  andxhope  that  the  next  presidential 
election  would  mend  things.     A  convention  for  this  pur- 
pose was  held  on   May  1,  1844,  at   Baltimore,  which  put  in 
nomination  Henry  Clay  for  President  and  Theodore  Free- 
linghuysen  for  Vice-President.     A  policy  was  announced  to 
this  effect:  a  protective  tariff,  a  national  currency,  and  the 
distribution  among  the  states  of  surplus  revenues. 

The  27th  of  May  saw  the  Democrats  in  session  in  Balti- 
more, firm  for  "strict  construction,"  to  which  they  added  a 
demand  for  54°  40'  or  fight,  with  regard  to  our  northwest 
boundary.  The  nomination  of  James  K.  Polk  for  President 
and  George  M.Dallas  for  Vice-President  put  them  squarely 
on  their  platform.  The  Abolitionists  had  met  August  30, 
1843,  denouncing  slavery  and  recommending  penal  laws  to 
stop  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves  to  the  south.  They  put 
up  James  G.  Burney  for  President  and  Thomas  Morris  for 
Vice-President. 

9.  The  Result.— The  November,  1844,  election  settled 
the  whole  question.     Had  the  Abolition  vote  of  62,300  been 
added  to  the  vote  for  Clay  he  would  have  been  elected. 
The  electoral  votes  were  170  for  Polk  and  Dallas  to  105  for 
Clay.     The  popular  Democratic  vote  was  1,337,243,  and  the 
Whig  1,299,068. 

Polk  and  Dallas  were  inaugurated  March  4, 1845, 


332  FIFTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

Fifteenth  Administration. 

i.  Two  New  Issues.— Besides  the  anti-slavery  ques- 
tion, two  new  issues  of  great  magnitude  were  now  to  be 
•met.  These  were  the  Mexican  and  the  Oregon  questions. 


JAMES  K.  POLK, 

Born  in  Mecklenburgh  County,  North  Carolina, 

November  2,  1795. 

President  March  4,  i845-March  5,  1849. 
Died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  June  15,  1849. 

2.  *Texas  Admitted   Into  the  Union.  —  Congress  met 
December  1,  1845;  on  the  29th  Texas  was  admitted  into 
the  Union  with  no  provision  as  to  slavery,  most  of  the  Whigs 
voting  against  and  most  of  the  Democrats  for  the  bill.  War 
with  Mexico  was  the  result,  and,  pending  its  progress,  the 
Oregon  question  came  up  for  solution. 

3.  The  Oregon  Question. — At  first  the  President  mani- 
fested a  disposition  to  adhere  to  the  principles  of  his  posi- 
tion during  the  electioneering  canvass — to  claim  the  line  of 
64°  40 '—but   through    the    influence    chiefly  of  Webster 
(Whig),  Galhoun  and  Benton  (Democrat),  together  with  the 
gravity  of  the  situation,  he  modified  his  demands  by  sub- 
mitting the  matter  to  be  compromised  by  a  new  treaty 

*Iowa  was  admitted  in  $46  and  Wisconsin  in  1848. 


FIFTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  333 

based  on  that  of  1842  between  Daniel  Webster,  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States,  and  Lord  Ashburton,  on  the  part  of 
England.  They  agreed  on  the  parallel  of  49  as  the  proper 
boundary,  but  not  till  after  bad  blood  had  been  stirred  up 
on  both  sides,  which  line  was  established  by  commissioners 
from  both  countries  in  1846.  The  dispute  between  the  two 
countries  on  the  northeastern  boundary  was  settled  also  at 
the  same  treaty. 

4.  The  Mexican  War. — The  Mexican  war  resulted  in 
the  acquisition  of    Texas,    New  Mexico,  California    and 
Arizona,  by  treaty,  wriich  increase  of  territory  added  fresh 
material   for  the  slavery  issue,  anti-slavery    agitation,  to 
decide  what  portion  of  the  newly  acquired  territory  should 
be  open  to  slavery.     Calhoun,  and  his  constituency,  took 
the  ground  that  all  new  territory  should  be  open  to  it,  and 
openly  advocated  disunion  as  the  only  alternative  which 
the  south  could  take,  consistent  with  their  honor. 

5.  The  Anti-Slavery  Party.— The  Anti-Slavery  party 
asserted  their  principles  with  all  the  force  that  justice  and 
political  economy,  in  their  estimation  demanded.     While 
both  the  Whigs  and  Democrats  of  the  North  regretted  their 
attitude,  believing  their  agitation  was  transient,' and  would 
soon  vanish  before  the  other  great  issues  of  the  country, 
and  acted  accordingly,  but  instead  of  this  result  their  num- 
bers continued  to  increase,  and  their  demands  grew  more 
tenacious. 

6.  Tariff  for  Revenue  Only.— During  the  XXIXth  Con- 
gress the  tariff  bill  of  1846  was  passed.     It  was  for  revenue 
only,  and  not  designed  as  protection. 

7.  A  Dead-Lock. — The  XXXth  Congress  was  occupied 
by  discussions  as  to  the  organization  of  the  territory  ac- 
quired from  Mexico,  but  without  any  definite  result.     The 

Ero-slavery  element  demanded  that  the  whole  of  it  should 
e  open  to  slavery,  but  there  was  too  strong  a  Free  Soil 
force  in  the  House  to  allow  this,  and  a  dead-lock  on  this 
question  was  the  result. 

8.  Policy  of  the  Democratic  Party.— True  to  the  time- 
honored  policy  of  the  Democratic  party,  Mr.  Polk  vetoed 
all  bills  for  internal  improvement  passed  during  his  admin- 
istration, thereby  carrying  out  a  strict  construction  prin- 
ciple in  the  use  of  public  funds. 

9.  The  Free  Soilers. — The  late  action  of  the  southern 
section  in  opposing  the  organization  of  California  and  New 
Mexico,  except  as  slave  territories,  had  disgusted  many 
northern  people,  and  was  the  germ  whence  grew  a  new 
party  called  the  Free  Soilers,  another  name  for  Abolitionists 
perhaps  not  quite  so  odious 

22 


834 


FIFTEENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR, 
Born  in  Orange  County,  Virginia, 

November  24,  1784. 

President  March  5,  i849-July  9,  1850, 

Died  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  July  9,  1850. 

10.  Barn  Burners  and  Hunkers. — The  Democratic  con- 
vention, for  the  nomination  of  candidates  for  the  next  presi- 
dential term,  met  at  Baltimore,  May  22,  1848.  To  this 
convention  two  sets  of  delegates  came  from  the  state 
of  New  York,  one  representing  such  of  the  party  as  favored 
Free  Soil,  and  the  other,  such  as  were  willing  to  affiliate  with 
the  southern  Democrats.  The  former  were  called  Barn 
Burners  (as  a  synonym  of  disgrace),  and  the  latter  Hunkers. 


FIFTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  335 

The  Barn  Burners  retired  from  the  convention,  after  much 
parliamentary  discussion,  and  harmony  then  prevailed. 

11.  Democratic  Candidates. — Lewis  Cass,  of  Michigan, 
received  the  nomination  for  President,  and  William  O.  But- 
ler, of  Kentucky,  for  V ice-President.    The  convention  was 
firm  in  the  strict  construction  policy,  and  silent  on  the  anti- 
slavery  issue;  but  voted  down  a  resolution  that  Congress 
had  no  power  to  interfere  with  slavery. 

12.  The  Free  Soilers'  Convention. — The  Free  Soilers 
held  their  national  convention  in  Buffalo,  August  9,  and 
the  Barn  Burners,  who  had  retired  from  the  Democratic 
convention,  joined  them.     It  adopted  a  platform  denying 
the  power  of  Congress  to  create  a  slave  state,  and  astonished 
the  country  by  the  nomination  of  Martin  Van  Buren  for 
President.    Charles  Francis  Adams  was  nominated  for  Vice- 
President.    The  Abolitionists  joined  them,  and  held  no  con- 
vention of  their  own. 

13.  The   Whig  Convention. — The    Whig    convention 
met  at  Philadelphia  June  7,  and  nominated  Zachary  Taylor, 
of  Louisiana,  for  President,  and  Millard  Fillmore,  of  New 
York,   for  Vice-President.     They   were  also  silent  on  the 
slavery  issue,  which  seemed  to  be  growing  more  and  more 
dangerous,  but  voted  down  a  resolution  to  enforce  the  Wil- 
mot  proviso.    This  was  an  amendment  proposed  by  Mr. 
Wilmot,  of  Pennsylvania,  to  a  bill  for  the  purchase  of  terri- 
tory from  Mexico.     Said  amendment  providing  that  terri- 
tory thus  acquired  should  not  be  open  to  slavery.     It  was 
not  carried,  but  became  a  salient  premise,  around  which 
Free  Soilers  rallied. 

14.  The  Wilmot  Proviso.— The  Wilmot  Proviso  had 
been  introduced  into  the  Whig  convention,  and  a  resolution 
that  Congress  had  no  power  to  interfere  with  slavery,  into 
the  Democratic  convention  (although  both  coventions  voted 
respective  resolutions  down),  which  revealed  the  political 
tendency  of  each,  as  to  the  anti-slavery  question;  and  was 
significant  of  a  disposition  of  the  majority  of  each  conven- 
tion to  conceal  their  sentiments  on  the  rising  issue  in  ques- 
tion. 

15.  The  Election  was  Exciting. — The  popular  election 
on  the  following  November  was  unusually  exciting.     The 
Free  Soilers  had  strong  hopes  of  throwing  the  final  election 
into  the  house,  but  when  the  electoral  votes  were  counted, 
Taylor  and   Fillmore  had   163,  and   Cass  and   Butler   127. 
The  popular  vote  stood:  1,360,101  for  Whigs,  and  1,220,544 
for  the  Democrats,  and  291,263  for  the  Free  Soilers,  the 
latter  showing  a  large  gain  in  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  of 
the  country. 

Taylor  and  Fillmore  were  inaugurated  March  5,  1849. 


SIXTEENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 


MILLARD  FILLMORE, 

Born  in  the  township  of  Locke,  Cayuga  County, 

New  York,  January  7,  1800. 

President  July  9,  i850-March  i,  1853. 

Died  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  March  8,  1871. 

Sixteenth  Administration. 

1.  The  Doctrines   of    "Squatter  Sovereignty."— The 

efforts  of  statesmen  and  politicians  to  keep  the  anti-slavery 
question  from  becoming  a  positive  issue  in  Congress  had 
now  reached  its  limit.  The  problem  to  be  solved  was, 
whether  the  newly  acquired  territory  should  be  organized 
on  the  plan  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise, or  whether  the  doctrines  of  "Squatter  Sovereignty" 
should  prevail  in  them,  which  was  to  let  the  territory  be 
open  for  settlement  for  both  holders  with  their  slaves  and 
Free  Soilers,  and  determine  among  themselves  whether  the 
states  in  it  shall  ultimately  be  free  or  slave  states. 

2.  Calhoun's  Views    on    the    Slave  Question.  -  -  The 
immensity  of    the    territory  to  be  organized  awakened  the 
apprehensions  of  the  North,  lest  the  South  should  fix  their 
laws  and  institutions  over  it,  thereby  subordinating  the  whole 
country  to  slave  rule  by  means  of  such  an  overwhelming  pre- 


SIXTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  887 

ponderance.  Calhoun  contended  that  the  Constitution  was 
the  Supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  covered  every  territory 
with  its  requirements;  and  inasmuch  as  it  recognized 
slavery,  any  settler  should  he  permitted  to  take  his  slaves 
to  such  territory  and  be  protected  in  holding  them. 

3.  Webster's    Reply.  —  Daniel    Webster    the    "great 
expounder,"  replied  to  him,  that  "the  Constitution  did  not 
bind  territories  till  they  had  been  created  into  states,"  and 
while  it  provided  the  forms  by  which  this  could  be  done, 
"was  inoperative  as  to  the  exercise  of  power  over  the  terri- 
tory."    It  could  not  exercise  its  functions  even  over  a  state, 
without  acts  of  Congress  to  enforce  it." 

4.  The  Important  Bills  on  the  Calendar. — The  most 
important  bills  now  on  the  calendar  were:  a  bill  for  the 
admission  of  California  as  a  free  state;  a  bill  for  the  organi- 
zation of  Utah  and  New  Mexico  as  territories,  subject  to 
become  either  free  or  slave  states;  a  bill  to  abolish  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  a  stringent  fugitive  slave 
bill.     Henry  Clay,  the  great  compromiser,  undertook  the 
task  of  engrafting  them  all  into  one  "omnibus  bill,"  as  it 
was  called,  except  the  one  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  which  he  did  not  think  expe- 
dient; and  passing  them  through  both  Houses  at  a  single 
balloting. 

5.  Various    Propositions. — Jefferson    Davis    proposed 
the  extension  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  to  the  Pacific. 
Mr.  Seward  proposed  the  Wilmot  Proviso  to  cover  the  ter- 
ritory in  question.  Calhoun's  last  speech  was  read  by  James 
M.  Mason,  while  the  debate  on  Clay's    compromise  was 
pending.    It  reiterated  what  he  had  said  before,  but  he  died 
two  months  afterward,  March  31,  1850,  not  living  to  see  the 
fate  of  the  omnibus  bill.     Mr.  Taylor,  the  President,  also 
died  before  the  pending  issue  was  settled,  and  Mr.  Fillmore 
became  President  July  10,  1850. 

6.  Clay's  Omnibus  Bill.- — Clay's  Omnibus   bill    ulti- 
mately became  the  basis  on  which  the  compromise  was 
made,  but  not  till  after  eloquence  had  been  exhausted  on 
both  sides,  and  the  country  excited  as  it  never  had  been 
before  on  a  moral  issue. 

7.  California  Becomes  a  State. — California  had  begun 
to  fill  up  so  rapidly  with  gold  seekers  that  it  became  a 
state     September    9,   1850,    and    was     admitted    without 
slavery,     New  Mexico  and  Utah  were  organized  as  terri- 
tories without  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  and  the  fugitive  slave 
bill  became  a  law. 

8.  The  North  and  the  South.— The  South  settled  into 
an   illy  concealed    tranquility  and  the  North  acquiesced 


338  SIXTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

with  equal  grace,  except  the  Anti-Slavery  party,  to  whom 
the  fugitive  slave  law  was  odious. 

9.  The    Democratic    Convention. — June    1,   1852,  the 
Democratic  convention  met  at  Baltimore  to  nominate  candi- 
dates for  the  next  presidential  term.     It  took  more  radical 
ground  than  ever  before  by  endorsing  the  Kentucky  resolu- 
tions of  1798,  which  it   will  be  remembered  placed  the  state 
rights  above  the  Constitution.     It  also  declared  fidelity  to 
the  compromise  of  1850,  and  was  emphatic  against  slavery 
agitation.     Franklin  Pierce  of  New  Hampshire  and  William 
King,  of  Alabama,  were  the  candidates  nominated. 

10.  The   Whig    Convention. — The   Whig    convention 
met  at  the  same  place  on  the  16th.     It   declared  a  similar 
policy  to  that  of  the  Democrats,  as  to  the   compromise,  but 
showed   favor  to   a  system   of  internal   improvements.     It 
nominated    Winfield   Scott,  of   Virginia,   and  William  A. 
Graham,  of   North   Carolina,  as  candidates  for    the  next 
term. 

11.  The   Free  Soil  Convention.— The   Free  Soil  con- 
vention  met  at  Pittsburg   August  11.     It  denounced  slav- 
ery, the  compromise  and  the  parties  who  supported  it.   John 
P.  Hale  of  New  Hampshire  and  George  W.  Julien,  of  Indi- 
ana were  their  candidates.    The  count  of  the  electoral  votes 
in  February,  1853,  succeeding  the  popular  election,  showed 
for  Pierce  and  King  254,  and  for  Scott  and  Graham  42  votes. 

12.  Pierce  and  King   Inaugurated. — Pierce  and   King 
were  inaugurated  March  4,  1853.     The  popular  vote  was: 
For  the  Democratic  ticket,  1,601,474;  for  the  Whig  ticket, 
1,386,578;  for  the  Free  Soil  ticket,  156,149. 

13.  The  State  Election  in  Illinois. — At  the  state  election 
in  Illinois,  in  1852,  the  Free  Soilers  united  with  the  Whigs 
on  the  election  of  E.  B.  Washburne,  whom  they  sent  to  Con- 
gress.    This  triumph,  while  it  broke  the  chain  which  had 
hitherto  bound  old  parties  together  in  this  state,  placed  it 
in  the  skirmish  line  of  the  conflict  that  ensued,  and  in  the 
front  of  the  battle  that  turned  the  scale  in  the  forum  and 
the  field. 


SEVENTEENTH    ADMINISTRATION.  339 


\ 


FRANKLIN  PIERCE,  . 

Born  at  Hillsborough,  Hillsborough  County,  New 

Hampshire,  November  23,  1804. 

President  March  4,  i853-March  4,  1857. 

Died  at  Concord.  New  Hampshire,  October  8,  1869. 

Seventeenth  Administration. 

1.  The  Compromise  of  1850. — That  the  compromise  of 
1850  had  settled  forever  the  slavery  question,  was  the  uni- 
versal opinion  of  all  parties  except  the  radical  anti-slavery 
men  and  women/the  latter  having  by  thistime  taken  aeon- 
spicuous  part  in  the  discussion  of  the  issue. 

2.  Death   of   Clay,    Webster,  and    Calhoun.— Henry 
Clay,  the  great  light  of  the  Whigs,  as  well  as  the  man  to 
whom  the  nation   had  been   indebted  for  the  past  com- 
promises of  the  country,  was  no  more.     He  had  died  at 
Washington,  in  the  spring  of  1852. 

Daniel  Webster,  the  man  whose  words  fell  like  sledge- 
hammer blows  upon  the  principles  which  he  opposed  while 
they  carried  an  assurance  of  personal  friendship  with 
them,  had  also  passed  off  the  stage  four  months  after  the 
demise  of  his  great  peer. 

J.  C.  Calhoun,  whose  integrity  had  never  been  questioned, 
even  if  his  policy  might  be  wrong,  and  whose  eloquence 
was  at  par  with  Webstfr  and  Clay,  had  preceded  them. 


840  SEVENTEENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 

There  were  none  who  could  fill  their  places  in  the  populai 
heart — none  who  could  be  recognized  as  leaders  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  their  respective  constituency,  left  in  the  great 
political  arena  to  take  a  part  in  the  conflict  now  at  hand.' 

3.  The  Know  Nothings. — A  new  party  called  the  Native 
American  party,  and  designated  as  "Know-Nothings,"  rep- 
resenting a  policy  hitherto  not  considered  by  any  former 
party,  the  fundamental  principle  of  which  was  a  religious 
resolution  to  "  purge  "  the  government  from  Roman  Cath- 
olic influence,  on  the  ground  that  it  had  allied  itself  to  the 
Democratic  party,  and  by  virtue  of  this  alliance  our  large 
cities  were  officered  by  Irish  Catholics,  now  arose. 

4.  Their  Make  Up. — This  party  was  made  up  largely 
from  the  Whig  ranks,  but  in  it  were  also  many  Democrats. 
It  was  at  first  a  secret  order,  and  hence  an  unknown  quan- 
tity till  the  day  of  election,  when  results  revealed  the  names 
of  those  for  whom  they  had  voted;  but  ere  their  influence 
was   widely  felt  an  unexpected  turn  of  affairs,  as  to  the 
slavery  issue,  came  upon  Congress  that  became  a  strategic 
point  to  occupy,  which  would  give  to  their  party  vantage 
ground,  who  occupied  it.- 

5.  The  XXXIIId  Congress.—  The  XXXIIId  Congress, 
the  first  of  the  new  administration,  opened   December  5th, 
1853.    On  the  4th  a  bill  was  introduced   into  the  Senate  to 
establish  a  territorial  government  for  Nebraska,  which  was 
referred  to  the  committee  on  territories,  of  which  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  was  chairman.     Mr.  Douglas   reported   the  bill 
on  the  following  day  with  amendments. 

6.  A  Special  Report  to  the  Senate. — The  true  intent  of 
the  amendments  as  to  whether  they  had   annulled  former 
compromises  or  not  were  not  understood  by  the  Senate,  and 
to  leave  no  doubt  on   this  important  point  a  special  report 
was  made  to  the  Senate  on  the  4th  of  January,  1854,  further 
amending  the  original  bill  in  such  language  as  could  leave 
no  doubt  that  its  construction  meant  the  overruling  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise. 

7.  Sectional    Antagonism. — The  late    compromise    of 
1850  had  been  a  basis  by  which  other  contingent  issues  had 
been  settled,  and  this  sudden  blow  aimed  at  the  dimensions 
tone  of  the  compromise  fabric  created  a  sensation  through- 
out the  North,  opening  the  flood  gates  of  sectional  antag- 
onism. 

8.  The    Principle    of   "  Squatter    Sovereignty."— Mr. 
Douglas  defended  the  bill,  on  the  ground  that   in   1848 
a  bill  brought  before  Congress,  for  the  extension  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  to  the  Pacific  ocean»  had  been 
defeated,  and  that  this  defeat  had  made  it  necessary  to  effect 


SEVENTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  341 

the  v,oinpromise  of  1850  to  supersede  it.  He  further  stated 
that  the  object  of  the  bill  was  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  the 
territory  in  question,  or  to  prevent  its  going  there,  but  to 
leave  the  matter  to  be  settled  by  its  inhabitants.  This  view 
of  the  case  was  the  principle  of  what  was  termed  "  squatter 
sovereignty." 

9.  The  Missouri  Compromise. — In  reply  to  Mr.  Douglas, 
Salmon  P.  Chase  denied,  that  the  compromise  of  1810  had 
superseded  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  to  substantiate 
his  premise  quoted  the  language  of  Mr.  Atchison,  senator 
from  Missouri,  who,  on  that  occasion,  had  declared  that 
"  though  a  grave  error,  the  Missouri  Compromise  could  not 
be  repealed."     Lewis  Cass  was  one  of  the  thirteen  on  the 
compromise  in  1850,  and  to  him  Mr.  Chase  appealed  to 
know  if  any  thing  had  been  said  by  that  committee  about 
the  supersedence  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  He  remained 
silent. 

10.  "  The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill.'  '—The  debate  on  this 
bill  began  early  in  December,  1853,  and  terminated  with  its 
passage  May  25, 1854,  slightly  modified  but  clearly  super- 
seding the  Missouri  Compromise,  thereby  opening  the  new 
territories  to  slavery.     The   bill   included   Kansas,  by  a 
change  from  its  first  name  to  that  of  "  The  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill." 

11.  Whigs  Divide.— Up  to  this   time  the  Whigs  had 
held  intact  their  organization,  but  now  their  leaders,  as  well 
as  even  the  most  insignificant  tyro  in   their   camp,  could 
feel  the  wedge  of  disintegration  penetrating  to  the  heart  of 
their    body    politic.      The    southern    Whigs   had   largely 
deserted  them  and  gone  over  to  the  Democrats  when  any 
measure  touching  slavery  had   come   before   Congress.    A 
few  of  them  had  joined  the  American  party. 

12.  Power  in  the  North. — The   Free   Soilers  were  an 
acknowledged  power  in  the  North  not  to  be  despised,  and 
the  problem  now  was  to  find   a   political  nucleus  around 
which  to  gather  in  opposition  to  the  Democratic  party,  by 
whose  quasi  alliance  the  South  had  managed  to  divide  the 
political  forces  of  the  North  and  conquer  them  in  detail. 

13.  '*  Border  Ruffians." — The    border    war    between 
Kansas  settlers  and  Missouri  raiders  called  "Border  Ruf- 
fians," grew  from  the  rivalry  which  had  sprung  up  between 
slave  party  at  the  South  and  the  Emigrant  Aid    Society  of 
the  North  to  fill  up  Kansas  with  their  respective  classes  of 
settlers.     In  this  contest  the  North  had  the  advantage  from 
their  locality,  took    the    lead    and  kept  it,  but  the  superior 
numbers  did  not  avail  them  in  the  election,  for  the  Border 
Ruffians    overran    the   state   and    prevented  them   from 
victory. 


842  SEVENTEENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 

14.  A  New  Political  Faith.— The  result  was  to  make 
proselytes  throughout  the  country  to  a  new  political  faith 
and  the  names  of  Free  Soilers,  Anti-Nebraska  Men,  etc., 
soon  began  to  be  looked  upon  with  usual  favor. 

15.  Transitory  State  of  Politics.— Pending  this  transi- 
tory state  of  politics,  the  American  party  had  elected  sev- 
eral members  of  the  House  and  some  ambitious  politicians 
began  to  spread  their  sails  to  the  breeze  under  an  impres- 
sion that  they  were  destined  to  rise  above  any  other  party. 
They  joined  hands  with  the  Anti-Nebraska  men  and  elected 
their  speaker,  N.  P.  Banks,  at  the  opening  of  the  XXXIVth 
Congress.     Meanwhile  Kansas  became  the  "cockpit"  of  the 
contest.     The  slavery  party  of  the  territory  held  their  elec- 
tion   in   accordance  with  constitutional  forms,  at  least  out- 
wardly and  established  their  legislature  at  Shawnee,  under 
the  auspices  of  President  Pierce. 

16.  The  Free   Statesmen. — The   free  statesmen  held 
their  election  and  established  their  legislature  at  Topeka. 
Each  framed  a  constitution  for  the   state;   one  recognizing 
slavery,  the  other  prohibiting  it.     By  order  of  the  president 
the    Topeka  legislature  was   dispersed  July    4,  1856,   the 
Shawnee  legislature  being  the  one  recognized  by  theadmip- 
istration. 

17.  The  Free  State  Settlers  Outnumbered  their  Oppo- 
nents.— The  free  state  settlers  of  Kansas  claimed  that  they 
greatly  outnumbered   their  opponents  and  that  the  Shaw- 
nee Legislature  was  created  by  fraudulent  votes  and  vio- 
lence.    On  the  19th  of  March,  1856,   the  subject  was  taken 
under  consideration  in   the  House,  and  John  Sherman,   of 
Ohio;  William  A.    Howard,    of    Michigan,    and   Mordicia 
Oliver,  of  Missouri,  were  appointed  as  a  committee  to  go  to 
Kansas,    gather   evidence  and   make  a    report  as    to   the 
validity  of  their  elections.    When  they  returned  they   pro- 
nounced the  elections  of  the  free  states  party  legal  and 
valid. 

18.  The  Tariff  Bill  of  1857. — No  bills  were  passed  to 
retrieve  this  strain.     During  this  session  the  tariff  bill  of 
1857  became  a  law.     It  was  a  reduction  of  former  rates. 
During  Mr.  Pierce's  entire  administration  he  adhered  to  the 
strict  construction  policy  and  opposed  the  anti-slavery  agi- 
tation. 

19.  Republicans.  -Thus  far  the  free  soilers  had  only 
been  successful  in  destroying  the  Whig  party,  but  their 
work  was  only  begun.    Free  soil  and  a  policy  by  which 
slavery   could  at  least  be   subordinated  to   a  wholesome 
restraint,  was  demanded  by  the  North,  and  to  bring  such  a 
salutary  measure  into  practical  working  order  all  parties 


SEVENTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  343 

except  the  extreme   strict-construction  Democrats  united 
under  the  name  of  Republicans. 

20.  The  Contest  was  Doubtful. — Even  with  the  united 
strength  of  all  these,  the  contest  was  doubtful,  for  the  South 
was  unanimous  and  it  was  morally  certain  that  some  of  the 
northern  states  were  not  yet  ready  to  take  the  (in  the  esti- 
mation of  many)  "fatal  step"  which  might  involve  a  civil 
war.     In  this  emergency  the"  Know-Nothing  "  party, under 
the  hopeful  incentive  that  their  issue  would  naturalize  the 
main  one,  or  bridge  over  the  "  evanescent  "  (as  some  style 
it)  wave  of  excitement,  assembled  at  Philadelphia  in  con- 
vention,  February    22,    1856,  to  nominate  candidates    for 
President  and  Vice-President. 

21.  Sincere  in  their  Convictions. — Probably  no  large 
body  of  men  had  ever  before  or  since  congregated  with  such 
versatile  lights  and  shades,  in  a  political  sense.    That  the 
majority  of  them  were  sincere  in  their  convictions  and  asser- 
tions that   "  Americans  should   rule  America,"   there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt ;  but  it  is  certain  that  there  were  friends  of 
slavery    in  the  convention  who   tried  their  utmost  to  give 
the  new  political  faith  a  momentum,  under  the  impression 
that  it  would  divide  the  Republican  strength.  A  respectable 
moiety  of  the  convention  were  freesoilers,  and  their  attempt 
to  put  a  plank  into  the  platform,  recommending  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  failing  they  withdrew  from 
the  convention,  leaving  the  field  subtleness  of  these  oppo- 
nents. 

22.  Nominations. — Millard  Fillmore,  of  New  York,  and 
Andrew  Jackson  Donaldson,  of  Tennessee,  were  their  can- 
didates for  President  and  Vice-President.     The  Democrat 
nominating  convention. had  already  been  held  at  Cincinnati, 
on  the  16th  of  June,  and  James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania, 
for  President,  and  John  C.  Breckinridge  for  Vice-President, 
had    been    nominated.       Strict    construction,  the   Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  then  a  political  faith,  were  adhered  to  with 
great  unanimity. 

The  Republican  convention  met  at  Philadelphia  June 
17th,  John  C.  Fremont  for  President  and  William  L.  Day- 
ton for  Vice-President,  were  their  candidates.  Internal 
improvements,  the  prohibition  of  slavery  and  polygamy  in 
the  territories,  and  free  Kansas,  were  their  emphatically 
acknowledged  policy. 

23.  A   Heavy    Strain   of   Antagonism.— The   canvass 
exceeded  in  earnestness  any  former  one.    The  press,  the 
pulpit,  and  the  forum  were  on  a  heavy  strain  of  antag- 
onism,   not   to   call  it   a   harder   name,   till  the   day    of 
election. 


844  EIGHTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

24.  Results  of  the  Election. — The  count  of  the  votes 
of  the  electoral  college  in  the  following  February  showed 
for  Buchanan  and  Breckinridge,  174;  for  Fremont  and 
Dayton,  114.  The  Democratic  popular  vote  was  1,838,169; 
the  Republican  popular  vote,  1,341,264;  the  Know-Nothings 

Buchanan  and  Breckinridge  were  inaugurated  March 
4, 1857. 


Eighteenth  Administration. 

I.  Triumph  of  the  Democrats.— The  late  triumph  of 
the  Democrats  in  the  face  of  such  sanguinary  opposition 
seemed  to  carry  conviction,  looking  through  conservative 
spectacles,  that  this  party  had  a  perpetual  lease  of  power. 
But  the  under  current  was  too  strong  to  give  general  cur- 
rency to  such  a  conclusion,  notwithstanding  that  the  slave 
interest  thus  far  had  always  won  when  brought  in  competi- 
tion with  the  anti-slavery  interests. 


JAMES  BUCHANAN, 

Born  at  Stony  Batter,  Franklin  County,  Pa., 

April  22,  1791. 

President  March  4,  i857-March  4,  1861. 
Died  at  Wheatland,  Pa.,  June  i,  1868. 


EIGHTEENTH   ADMINISTRATION.  345 

2.  The  Dred-Scott  Case. — During  the  heat  of  the  late 
canvass  the  Dred-Scott  case  came  before  the  judiciary 
department  at  Washington.  The  owner  of  the  slave  Dred 
had  taken  him  from  Missouri  to  Illinois  in  1834,  and  after 
four  years'  residence  in  that  state  had  taken"  him  to  Minne- 
sota, from  where  he  subsequently  returned  with  him  to  Mis- 
souri and  sold  him,  after  which  the  slave  brought  suit  for 
his  freedom  in  the  circuit  court  of  St.  Louis  county,  Mis- 
souri, on  the  ground  of  his  master  having  voluntarily  taken 
him  to  a  free  state.  He  obtained  a  verdict  in  his  favor, 
but  the  case  was  appealed  till  it  got  into  the  supreme  court 
of  the  United  States.  This  court  decided  that,  according 
to  the  constitution,  he  who  had  ever  been  a  slave  had  no 
rights  which  a  white  man  was  bound  to  respect. 

3.  Corruption  of  Principle. — Such  a  corruption  of 
principle,  as  this  decision  was  claimed  to  be,  intensified  the 
contest  by  giving  a  new  impetus  to  free  soil  efforts  in  the 
North,  while  it  imparted  to  the  South  a  confidence  in  their 
own  power  which  the  sequel  proved  to  be.  All  Kansas  was 
an  inviting  theater  on  which  to  fight  out  the  issue,  which 
was  whether  this  debatable  soil  was  ultimately  to  be  free  or 
slave.  Neither  John  Brown's  exploit  at  Osawatomie,  nor 
the  sacking  of  Lawrence  by  Border  Ruffians  could  settle  this 
question,  nor  could  the  many  daring  acts  of  aggressive 
proselytism  which  were  committed  by  both  sides,  but  there 
was  one  issue  on  which  seemed  to  hang  the  fate  of  Kansas, 
and  this  was  the  official  action  to  be  taken  as  to  the  validity 
of  the  Lecompton  constitution. 

4.  Convention  to  Form  a  Constitution  for  Kansas. — 
The  act  providing  for  the  convention  to  form  a  constitution 
for  Kansas  authorized  a  census   to  be   taken,  enumerating 
the  legal  voters  in  the  territory,  April  1,  1857.     In   counties 
which  had  been  settled  by   free  state  men  no  census  was 
taken,  and  in  apportioning  the  delegates  for  the  constitu- 
tional convention  the  governor  classed  these  counties  with 
others  more  favorable  to  slavery,  and  they  were  really  mis- 
represented in  the  convention.     Under  these  disadvantages 
the  free  state  men  refused  to  send  delegates  to  the  con* 
vention. 

It  met  at  Lecompton  in  September,  and  framed  a  con- 
stitution recognizing  slavery,  which  articles  in  this  docu- 
ment were  to  be  voted  on. 

5.  Free  State  Men  Refuse  to  Vote.— Most  of  the  Free 
State  men  refused  to  vote  at  all,  on  the  ground  that  they 
had  not  been  fairly  represented'  in  the  apportionment  of 
delegates  to  draft  the  instrument.     Nor  did  they  recognize 
as  right  the  unusual  plan  of  being  obliged  to  accept  a  con- 


346  EIGHTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

stitution,  subject  only  to  their  power  to  change  a  single  sec- 
tion of  it,  especially  as  there  were  other  portions  of  it  dis« 
tasteful  to  them,  to  correct  which  no  provision  had  been  made. 
The  election  came  off  December  21, 1857.  In  favor  of  the 
constitution  with  slavery  were  6,193  votes  and  against  it  589. 

6.  Feeling  of  Indignation  Through   the  North. — This 
discrimination    in    favor  of    the  slave  interest,  produced  a 
deep  feeling  of  indignation  through  the  North.     Frederick 
P.  Stanton  was  then  secretary  under  Robert  A.  Walker,  the 
governor,  but  Mr.  Walker  being  absent  at  Washington,  Mr. 
Stanton  had  to  act  in  his  place,  and  he  ordered  an  election 
to  be  held  on  the  4th  of  January,  1858,  in  which  the  people 
might  vote  for  or -against  the  constitution  entire. 

7.  Election  Fraud.—  Against    the    constitution    10,226 
votes  were    polled;  for    the    constitution  with  slavery,  138 
votes,  and    for    it  without  slavery,  24  votes.    At  the  same 
time,  state  officers  and  a  representative  to  congress  were 
voted  for.    The  Free  State  men  carried  their  entire  ticket  by 
a  large  majority,  as  reported  by  the  presiding  officers  of 
the    election,    except    Mr.    J.    Calhoun,    who,    instead    of 
acknowledging  the  validity  of  this  election,  added  a  number 
of  spurious  names  to  the  list  of  voters  to  secure  a  pro-slav- 
ery majority,  which  names  it  was  afterward  proven  were 
copied  from  an  old  Cincinnati  directory.    The  charge  of 
this    election    fraud    was  confirmed  by    Mr.  Stanton    and 
Governor    Walker    rejected    the     returns    as    fraudulent. 
Meantime,  Mr.  Calhoun,  being  obliged  to  flee  from  Kansas, 
found  refuge  in  Washington,  but  fearing  to  present  the  list 
of  names  to  the  administration,  certificates  were  given  to 
the  Free  State  officers  according  to  the  first  election  returns. 

8.  The  Lecompton  Constitution.— Notwithstanding  these 
disclosures,  President  Buchanan  on  the  following  month, 
February,  1858,  submitted  the  Lecompton  Constitution  to 
Congress,  recommending  its  ratification,  and  in  his  expressed 
opinion  said  :  "  Kansas  is  therefore  at  this  moment  as  much 
a  slave  state  as  Georgia  or  South  Carolina."  The  only 
apology  for  which  must  have  been  that  of  state  rights  doc- 
trine guaranteed  in  the  constitution  right  or  wrong,  beyond 
the  reach  of  control  by  Congress. 

9.  A   Bitter  Contest. — This  aggressive  step  produced 
a  bitter  contest  in  which  Stephen  A.  Douglas  took  a  leading 
part  by  the   advocacy  of  his  favorite  doctrine  of  popular 
sovereignty,  and  applying  it  to  Kansas. 

10.  The  Democratic  Convention  and  Their  Platform.  - 
The  Democratic  convention  to  nominate  candidates  for  the 
next  presidential  term  met  at  Charleston,  S.  C.,  April  23, 
1861.     Douglas  refused  to  endorse  the  Lecompton  Consti- 


EIGHTEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  347 

tution,  or  to  renounce  the  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty, 
and  the  majority  of  the  convention  sustaining  him  in  this, 
most  of  the  southern  members  withdrew,  when  the  conven- 
tion proceeded  to  ballot  for  candidates,  but  no  choice  could 
be  made,  and  the  convention  adjourned  to  meet  again  in 
Baltimore,  June  18th,  at  which  place  it  nominated  Mr. 
Douglas  for  President,  and  Herschel  V.  Johnson,  of  Georgia, 
for  Vice-President.  Their  platform  represented  popular 
sovereignty  as  its  main  stay. 

11.  Southern  Delegates. — The  Southern  delegates  met 
at  Richmond  and  nominated  John  C.  Breckinridge,  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  Joseph  Lane,  of  Oregon,  of  course  without  any 
expectation  that  their  candidates  could  be  elected,  but  their 
resentment  had  been  aroused,  and  candor  was  impossible. 

12.  Know  -  Nothing    Convention. — The  American  or 
Know-Nothing  convention  met  at  Baltimore  May  19,  and 
nominated  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  and  Edward  Everett, 
of  Massachusetts. 

13.  The  Republican  Convention  and  its   Platform. — 
The  Republican  convention  met  at  Chicago  May  16,  I860. 
In  its  platform  it   maintained  the   constitutional   right  to 
make  internal  improvements  at  the  expense  of  the  national 
treasury.     But  the  slavery  question  overshadowed  all  else, 
and  care  was  taken  that  no  equivocal  language  should  be 
used  in  the  platform  on  this  point.    Slavery  was  to  be  op- 
posed in  the  territories  as  a  constitutional  right.    Abraham 
Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  was  nominated  as  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, and  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  for  Vice-President. 

14.  The   Douglas   Democrats. — The    Douglas   Demo- 
crats fully  recognized  slavery,  protected  by  constitutional 
rights  in  the  territories,  till  it  had  been  rendered  illegal 
there  by  popular  vote.     The  southern  Democrats,  among 
whom  were  also  many  northern  men,  held  that  since  the  re- 
peal of  the  Missouri  compromise  had  legalized  slavery  in 
the  territories  under  constitutional  rights,  neither  the  state 
nor  the  Congress  had  any  power  to  vote  it  out.      Douglas 
laid  down  a  plan  for  changing  slave  territory^into  free  ter- 
ritory by  a  popular  vote,  but  the  other  faction  made  this 
impossible. 

15.  Distinction  Between  the    Two    Parties.— In    ac- 
knowledging the  validity  of  the  Lecompton  constitution, 
this  distinction  between  the  two  parties  was  put  to  a  practi- 
cal test — Douglas  went  one  way  and  Buchanan  the  other, 
working  against  each  other,  while  both  worked  against  the 
"  Black  Republicans." 

16.  Quarrel  Over  the  Kansas  Issue. — During  the  heat 
of  the  presidential  campaign  that  followed  Congress  con- 


348  EIGHTEENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 

tinued  to  quarrel  over  the  Kansas  issue,  and  various  at- 
tempts were  made  to  procure  the  admission  of  the  state 
into  the  Union,  all  of  which  were  promptly  voted  down,  till 
the  pro-slavery  force  had  become  reduced  in  the  Senate  by 
the  withdrawal  of  five  senators,  whose  respective  states  had 
passed  ordinances  of  secession. 

17.  Kansas  Admitted  Into  the  Union.* — Thus  weakened 
in  opposition  to  free  Kansas  the  senate   passed   an  act  for 
her  admission  into   the  Union,  January  21,  1861 — yeas  36, 
nays  16.  The  state  was  admitted  under  a  constitution  which 
the  Free  State  men  had  framed  at  a  convention  assembled 
at  Wyandotte  in  March,  1859,  and  by  this  act  of  Congress 
the  most  irritating  controversy  it  had  ever  witnessed  was  at 
an  end — as  far  as  legislation  could  control  it.    The  Morrill 
tariff  bill  was  passed  at  the  same  session. 

18.  The   Result  of   the    Campaign. — The  November 
election  passed  off  amid  the  din  of  wordy  strife  between  the 
three  parties.  The  electoral  college  assembled  in  February, 
and  the  result  of  the  campaign  gave  for  Lincoln  and  Ham- 
lin   180  votes;   for  Douglas  and  Johnson  12;  for  Bell  and 
Everett  39;  and  for  Breckinridge  and  Lane  72. 

19.  No  sooner  was  the  result  of  the  election  known,  than 
the  southern  leaders  who  had  threatened  to  break  up  the 
Union,  proceeded   to  carry  out  their  threats.     South  Caro- 
lina first   seceded,  and  by   February  1  six  other  states  had 
passed  ordinances  of  secession.     February  4,  six  states  met 
and    formed   "  The   Confederate   States  of  America,"  and 
selected  Jefferson  Davis  as  President,  and  Richmond,  Va., 
as  the  capital. 

20.  Lincoln    and    Hamlin    Inaugurated. — Lincoln    and 
Hamlin    were  inaugurated   March  4,   1861.     The   popular 
vote  stood  1,866,350  for  Lincoln  and   Hamlin,   1,375,157  for 
Douglas  and  Johnson,  589,581   for  Bell   and  Everett,  and 
845,763  for  Breckinridge  and  Lane. 

*  Minnesota  was  admitted  in  1858  and  Oregon  in  1859. 


YOUNG  LINCOLN  SPLITTING  RAILS. 


349 


350  NINETEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

Nineteenth  Administration. 

1.  A  Deep  Sensation. — The  election  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln caused  a  deep  sensation  throughout  the  entire  country, 
but  from  several  different  lines  of  thought  in  viewing  its 
destined  revolt. 

2.  Actual  War. — Those  who  thought  the  most  deeply 
ion  the  matter  were  not  hasty  in  predicting  its  consequence, 
but  pending  the  interim  or  suspense  which  preceded  his 
inauguration  few  supposed  that  actual  war  would  come, 
till  on  ihe  fatal  14th  or  April,  1861,  Fort  Sumpter  was  fired 
on  and  taken  by  an  armed  force  of  rebels,  in  Charleston,  S, 
C.    This  method  of  opening  the  war  was  chosen  to  "fire 
the  southern  heart,"  to  use  the  expression  made  by  Jeffer- 
son Davis,  the  president  of   the  Southern  Confederacy, 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 
President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


NINETEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  351 

which  effect  though  produced  fire  in  the  northern  heart 
not  anticipated  by  Mr.  Davis,  especially  the  firing  of  it 
almost  universally  with  antagonism.  There  is  good  evi- 
dence that  the  southern  leaders  did  not  anticipate  a  general 
war,  but  a  comparatively  peaceful  acquiescence,  in  a 
separation,  and  even  General  Scott  in  speaking  on  the  sub- 
ject, foreshadowed  a  war  of  far  greater  magnitude  than  was 
generally  anticipated,  the  only  alternative  to  which  was  to 
say  "  Wayward  sister,  depart  in  peace." 

3.  Radicalism    Had   an    Advantage   Over  Conserva- 
tism.— Even  Horace  Greeley  advised  a  peaceable  separa- 
tion, but  quickly  rescinded  such  counsels  when  the  spon- 
taneous uprising  had  time  to  manifest  itself.    Conservatism 
in  the  breath  of  politicians  was  now  put  to  the  rack  of  pain- 
fully contending  emotions.     It  took  a  little  time  to  throw 
away  red  or  green  spectacles  and  put  on  a  pair  of  colored 
ones,  through  which  the  policy  of  the  country  could  be  seen 
in  the  light  of  reason  untrammeled  by  either  prejudices  or 
opinionated  vanity,  but  here  was  a  dilemma  in  which  radi- 
calism had  an  advantage  over  conservatism  and  impulse 
over  hesitancy,  for  radicalism  and  impulse  became  the 
watchword  now  and  prompt  war  measures  were  taken  to 
put  an  army  into  the  field,  though  against  the  advice  of  a 
very  few,  who  opposed  the  war  as  impolitic,  not  to  say  unjust. 

4.  The  Progress  of  the  War. — But  while  the  progress 
of  the  war  had  the  effect  to  create  two  classes  of  Demo- 
crats, known  as  peace  and  war  Democrats,  it  also  created 
two  classes  of  Republicans,  one  class  demanding  an  imme- 
diate freeing  of  the  slaves  and  the  other  not  unwilling  yet  to 
take  such  a  radical  measure.    From  the  first  time  this  policy 
was  canvassed  by  advocates  on  both  sides,  not  in  a  captious 
spirit,  but  under  a  conviction  of  supposed  principles  of 
political  economy,  and  especially  war  economy. 

5.  The    Policy    of  the   Administration. — Under   mis 
division  of  sentiment  the  policy  of  the  administration  was 
cautious  and  moderate    in  action.     First  it  accepted  the 
services  of  such  slaves  as  came  within  the  Union  lines  on 
the  ingenious  assumption  (of  which  General  B.  F.  Butler 
was  the  author)  that  they  were  contraband — a  principle 
that  no  casuitry  could  gainsay,  from  whatever  view  might 
be  taken  in  the  premises.     If  the  slave  was  a  chattel  he 
constituted  the  material  of  war — he  built  forts  for  his  mas- 
ter.    If  he  was  a  citizen,  and  turned  apostate  to  the  cause 
of  his  country,  the  rules  of  war  warranted  the  acceptance 
of  his  services  in  the  Union  cause.    But  accepting  him  as 
a  contraband  disarmed  opposition  from  the  peace  party  of 
the  North,  with  whom  peace  meant  a  northern  policy  which 


352  NINETEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

should  restore  harmony  to  the  nation  by  reinstating  the 
rebels  to  their  political  standing  before  the  war  began,  to 
do  which  it  was  all  important  that  the  slave  should  remain 
in  bondage;  and  consistent  with  this  theory  he  must  not  be 
accepted  in  the  Union  service  as  a  citizen. 

6.  The  Way  Toward  Universal  Emancipation. — That 
this  initiatory  step  did  much  to  open  the  way  toward  uni* 
versal  emancipation  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  It 
had  broken  through  the  web  of  toils  that  environed  the 
Democratic  heart  of  the  North,  whose  aversion  to  freeing 


ALEXANDER  H.  STEVENS, 
Vice-President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

the  slave  had  long  been  canonized  into  a  political  faith; 
nor  was  the  Republican  party  at  first  in  favor  of  such  a 
decisive  step,  except  the  old  abolition  element  in  it- 
which  it  may  with  no  impropriety  be  called  its  vitalizing 
element. 

7.  The  Proclamation  of  Emancipation. — The  procla- 
mation of  emancipation  was  issued  on  the  22d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1862,  to  go  into  effect  on  the  1st  of  January  following. 
A  storm  of  indignation  followed  from  the  peace  party,  but 


NINETEENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  353 

the  little  ripple  it  raised  in  the  sea  of  public  opinion  was 
soon  lost  in  the  tempestuous  waves  of  war.  It  was  a  thun- 
derbolt in  the  camp  of  tht  enemy,  but  they  generally 
received  it  in  sullen  silence,  like  the  Indian  warrior  who, 
when  taken  captive  and  tortured  with  fire,  bravely  conceals 
his  emotions. 

8.  The  XXXVIIth  Congress.— Previous  to  this  decis- 
ive measure,  the  XXXVIIth  Congress  had  made  ample 
provisions  for  a  revenue,  in  which  a  slight  increase  of  the 
tariff  of  the  previous  session  had  some  part,  and  the  home- 
stead bill  had  been  passed. 

9.  National  Banking  Law. — At  the  second  session  of 
the  same  Congress  an  act  was  passed  to  provide  a  cur- 
rency, secured  by  United  States  stocks,  which  was  a  national 
banking  law,  the  plan  of  which  was  drawn  up  by  S.  P. 
Chase,  the  secretary  of  the  treasure.    A  conscription  act 
for  drafting  men  into  the  army  and  the  suspension  of 
habeas  corpus  were  also  passed  during  this  session.     A 
war  of  words  followed  which  was  carried  on  by  peace  men, 
but  no  violent  acts  were  committed. 

10.  The  War    Prolonged. — The  war  had    been   pro- 
longed  far  beyond  the  prediction  of  leading  Republicans, 
and  had,  consequently,  created  unexpected  opposition  from 
the  Democratic  party,  or  perhaps,  more  properly  speak- 
ing, from  the  rump  of  this  party. 

xi.  Censure  Upon  the  Administration. — The  time  for 
holding'conventions,  to  choose  candidates  for  the  next  pres- 
idential term,  was  near  at  hand,  and  the  Democratic  party 
made  the  most  they  could  of  the  defeats  of  the  Union  arms 
to  bring  censure  upon  the  administration,  while  it  violently 
attacked  its  martial  law  and  conscription  policy.  Withal 
the  war  itself  was  carried  on  by  their  assistance,  individu- 
ally, but  as  a  party  only  in  a  modified  sense. 

12.  The  Republican  Nominating  Convention. — Under 
this  strain  the  Republican  nominating  convention  met  at 
Baltimore  June  7,  1864.    It  was  the  darkest  hour  of  the  war, 
but  unconditional  surrender  of  the  rebels  was  emphatically 
demanded,  nor  was  there  any  toning  down  of  ultra- aboli- 
tion sentiment  in  the  convention.    Abraham  Lincoln  for 
President  and  Andrew  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  for  Vice- 
President,  were  nominated. 

13.  The    Democratic    Convention. — The    Democratic 
convention  met  at  Chicago  on  the  following  August,  the 
29th.    Had  this  party  understood  its  true  interests,  it  would 
not  have  held  any  convention  at  all  during  the  strain  of  a 
war  for  which  they  did  not  hold  themselves  responsible, 
but  greatly  to  their  discredit,  stump  orators,  if  men  of  neither 


354 


NINETEENtll  A  DMINISTRATION. 


MAJOR-GEN.  ROBERT  E.  LEE. 


patriotism  nor  reason  nor  common  sense  could  be  called 
such,  ventilated  their  bad  blood  in  abusing  Mr.  Lincoln. 

14.  A  Recoil  in  Public  Sentiment. — Philosophic  minds 
can  penetrate  a  principle,  and  forecast  a  policy  wherewith 
to  bring  it  into  practice;  but  the  experiences  of  time  and 
events  may  be  necessary  to  bring  such  a  principle  to  the 
understanding  of  a  popular  wave  of  excitement.  But  the 
men  composing  the  peace  Democracy  were  not  philosophers. 
They  were  men  who  had  ever  been  victorious  in  elections 
till  "Black  Republicans"  had,  in  an  evil  hour,  as  they 
claimed,  out-voted  them,  and  brought  on  the  war.  These 
men,  instead  of  the  more  moderate  members  of  the  party, 
were  the  orators  of  their  conventions,  and  their  emphatic 
denunciations  of  the  war,  which  they  pronounced  a  failure, 
and  their  caustic  criticisms  of  the  administration  produced 


NINETEENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


355 


a  recoil  in  public  sentiment  which  greatly  strengthened  the 
Union  cause,  for  it  was  apparent  to  every  one  not  blinded  by 
zeal  without  knowledge  that  the  best  elements  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  were  in  the  field  fighting  the  common  enemy, 
and  that  the  only  ground  on  which  the  present  opposition 
to  the  administration  stood  was  paradoxical. 

15.  Results  of  the  Election.— When  the  votes  of  the 
electoral  college  were  counted  in  February  succeeding  the 
popular  election  of  November,  1864,  George  B.  McClellan, 
of  New  Jersey,  and  George  H.  Pendleton,  of  Ohio,  the 
Democratic  nominees,  had  but  21  votes,  while  Lincoln  and 
Johnson  had  212. 

They  were  inaugurated  March  4, 1865.    The  popular  vote 
stood:  Republican, 2,216,067;  Democratic,  1,808,725. 


THE  HON.  CARL  SCHURZ,  of  Missouri. 


356 


TWENTIETH  ADMINISTRATION. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
Born  in  Hardin  (now  La  Rue)  County,  Ky.t 

February  12,  1809. 

President  March  4,  i86i-April  15,  1865. 
Died  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  April  15  1865. 

Twentieth  Administration. 

Z.  A  Great  Hero. — Among  the  heroes  of  the  world  was 
there  ever  one  so  great  and  so  untrammeled  with  ostenta- 
tion, as  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  rebellion  had  been  crushed 
by  the  force  of  arms,  under^  his  guidance  through  all  its 
tortures,  too  intricate  for  ordinary  minds  to  fathom. 

2.  Assassination  of  President  Lincoln. — A  wave  of 
exultation  was  rolling  over  the  country,  and  at  the  height  of 
its  tide,  on  the  14th  of  April,  1865,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  shot 


TWENTIETH  ADMINISTRATION.  35? 

dead  at  Ford's  theater,  in  Washington  by  John  Wilkes 
Booth.  Andrew  Johnson,  the  Vice-President,  succeeded  to 
the  presidency,  and  never  before  in  the  history  of  the 
nation,  had  its  chief  executive  taken  such  extravagant 
responsibilities  upon  himself  in  violation  of  the  conviction 
of  Congress  as  he  did. 

3.  Reconstruction   Committee    Appointed. — Congress 
did  not  meet  till  December  4,  when  among  their  first  busi- 
ness they  appointed  a  reconstruction  committee.    This  was 
offensive  to  Mr.  Johnson,  and  he  dishonored   the  dignity  of 
his  high  office  by  acting  the  part  of  a  low-class  lawyer   in 
denouncing  their  action.    From  his  action  he  intended  evi- 
dently to  restore  the  original  doctrine  of  state  rights  which  in 
turn  modified  or  perhaps  rendered  inoperative  the  emanci- 
pation proclamation,  but  not  having  even  one-third  of  Con- 
gress on  his  side,  his  veto  power  was  incipient  to  act  as  a 
bar  to  its  designs  which  were  in  harmony  with  the  public 
voice  of  reason. 

4.  The  Civil  War  Declared  to  be  at  an  End.— On  the 
2d  of  April,  the  President,  by  proclamation  declared  the 
civil  war  to  be  at  an  end.    Congress  meanwhile  was  work- 
ing assiduously  in  perfecting  its  plan  for  re-organization. 
Tennessee  was  formally  restored  to  the  Union  by  that  body 
on  the 23d  of  July;  the  28th  of  that  month,  after  a  long  and 
arduous  session,  Congress  adjourned. 

5.  Notable  Events. — Meanwhile  notable  events  in  the 
foreign  relations  of  the  government  had  occurred.    The 
Emperor  of  the  French  had  been  informed  that  the  con- 
tinuation of  French  troops  in  Mexico  was  not  agreeable 
to  the  United  States,  and  on  the  5th  of  April  (1866),  Napo- 
leon's secretary  for  foreign  affairs  gave  assurance  to  our 
government  that  these  troops  should  be  withdrawn.    The 
state  elections,  held  in  the  autumn  of  1866,  indicated  the 
decided  approval  by  the  people  of  the  reorganization  plans 
of  Congress,  as  opposed  to  that  of  the  President,  who  was 
openly  affiliated  with  the  Democratic  party  and  the  late 
enemies  of  the  government  in  the  South  and  elsewhere. 
The  majority  in  Congress  felt  strengthened  by  the  popular 
approval  of  their  course,  and  went  steadily  forward  in  per- 
fecting measures  for  the  restoration  of  the  Union. 

6.  Steps  for  Restraining  the  Action  of  the  President. — 
They  took  steps  for  restraining  the  action  of  the  President, 
who,  it  was  manifest,  had  determined  to  carry  out  his  policy 
in  defiance  to  that  of  Congress.    And  as  an  indication  of  the 
general  policy  of  the  latter  concerning  suffrage,  a  bill  was 
passed  December  14  by  a  large  majority  of  both  Houses 
for  granting  the  elective  franchise  in  the  District  of 

21 


358  TWENTIETH  ADMINISTRATION. 

bia,  over  which  Congress  has  direct  control,  to  persons 

"without  any  distinction  on  account  of  color  or  race." 
The  President  vetoed  the  bill,  January  7,  1867,  when  it 
was  re-enacted  by  the  constitutional  vote  of  two-thirds 
of  the  members  or  both  Houses  in  its  favor. 

7.  Charges  Brought  Against  Andrew  Johnson. — On  the 
same  day,  January  7,  Mr.  Ashley,  representative  from  Ohio, 
arose  in  his  seat  and  charged  "  Andrew  Johnson,  Vice-Pres- 
ident and  acting  President  of  the  United  States,  with  the 
commission  of  acts,  which  in  the  estimation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, are  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  for  which  he  ought 
to  be  impeached."    He  offered  specifications  and  a  resolu- 
tion instructing  the  committee  on  the  judiciary  to  make  in- 
quiries on  the  subject.    The  resolution  was  adopted  by  a 
vote  of  137  to  38,  45  members  not  voting. 

This  was  the  first  public  movement  in  the  matter  of  the 
President,  which  resulted  in  his  tria.  in  May,  1868. 

8.  Bills  Vetoed  by  the  President. — At  a  former  session 
of  Congress  bills  were  passed  for  the  admission  of  the  ter- 
ritories of  Colorado  and  Nebraska  as  states  of  the  Union. 
The  President  interposed.     Now  similar  bills  were  passed, 
prescribing  as  a  preliminary  to  admission  in  their  Constitu- 
tion granting  impartial  suffrage  to  their  citizens  and  the 
ratification  of  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution.    The 
President  vetoed  them;  when  that  for  the  admission  of  Ne- 
braska was  passed  over  his  veto%    That  territory  became  a 
state  on  the  first  of  March,  making  the  thirty-seventh.    A 
bill  limiting  the  authority  of  the  President  in  making  offi- 
cial appointments  and  removals  from  office,  known  as  the 
"Tenure  of  Office  Act,"  was  passed,  and  was  vetoed  by  the 
President,  and  passed  his  veto,  repealing  so  much  of  an  act 
of  July  17,   1862,  as  gave  the  President  power  to  grant 
amnesty  and  pardon  to  those  who  had  been  engaged  in  the 
rebellion.    A  bill  was  also  passed,  with  the  same  opposition 
from  the  President,  for  the  military  government  of  the  dis- 
organized states.    The  XXXIXth  Congress  closed  its  last 
session  on  the  3d  of  March,  and  the  XLth  Congress  began 
its  first  session  immediately  thereafter. 

9.  The   Conduct  of  the   President  and  Action  of  the 
National  Legislature. — In  view  of  the  conduct  of  the  Presi- 
dent, which  threatened  the  country  with  revolution,  thisaction 
of  the  national  Legislature  was  deemed  necessary  for  the  pub- 
lic good.    It  adjourned  on  the  31st  of  March,  to  meet  on  the 
first  Wednesday  in  July.    Congress  assembled  on  the  4th  of 
July,  and    on    the    20th    adjourned  to  meet  on  the  21st   of 
November.    The  chief  business  of  the  short  session  was  to 
adopt  measures  for  removing  the  obstructions  cast  by  the 


TWENTIETH   ADMINISTRATION,  369 


\\ 


ANDREW  JOHNSON, 
Born  at  Raleigh,  Wake  County,  North  Carolina, 

December  29,  1808. 

President  April  15,  i865-March  4,  1869. 
Died  in  Carter  County,  Tenn.,  July  31,  1875. 

President  in  the  way  of  a  restoration  of  the  disorganized 
states.  A  bill  supplementary  to  the  one  for  the  military 
government  of  those  states  was  passed  over  the  usual  veto 
of  the  President,  arid  it  was  believed  that  the  chief  magis- 
trate would  refrain  from  farther  acts  calculated  to  disturb 
the  public  peace.  Not  so.  Immediately  after  the  adjourn- 
ment of  Congress  he  proceeded,  in  defiance  of  that  body  and 
in  violation  of  the  tenure  of  office  act,  to  remove  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  (Mr.  Stanton)and  to  place  General  Grant  in  his 
place.  The  President  first  asked  (August  5, 1867)  the  Secre- 
tary to  resign.  Mr.  Stanton  refused.  A  week  later  the  Presi- 
dent directed  General  Grant  to  assume  the  duty  of  Secre- 
tary of  War.  Grant  obeyed.  Stanton  retired  under  protest, 
well  satisfied  that  his  office  was  left  in  the  hands  of  a  pat- 
riot whom  the  President  could  not  corrupt  or  unlawfully 
control. 

*  10.  Hour  of  Seeming  Peril  to  the  Republic.— The 
removal  of  the  Secretary  of  War  was  followed  by  the  removal 
of  General  Sherman  from  the  command  of  the  Fifth  Dis- 
trict, and  General  Sickles  from  that  of  the  Second  District, 
by  which  the  country  Was  notified,  that  the  most  faithful 


360  TWENTIETH  ADMINISTRATION. 

officers  who  were  working  with  the  representatives  of  the 
people  for  the  proper  and  speedy  restoration  of  the  Union 
would  be  deprived  of  power  to  be  useful.  General  Grant 
protested  against  these  acts,  but  in  vain.  The  country  was 
greatly  excited  and  the  loyal  people  waited  with  impatience 
the  reassembling  of  congress  upon  which  thev  relied  in  that 
hour  of  seeming  peril  to  the  republic. 

11.  Mr.  Stanton  Reinstated  as  Secretary  of  War.— 
That  body  met  at  the  appointed  time,  and  on  the  12th   of 
December  the  President  sent  to  the  Senate  a  statement  of 
his  reasons  for  removing  the  Secretary  of  War.    They  were 
not  satisfactory,  and  on  the  13th  of  January  the  Senate  rein- 
stated Mr.  Stanton  and  General  Grant  retired  from  the  war 
department.    Already  Congress  had  made  much  progress 
toward  the  restoration  of  the    disorganized  states    of  the 
Union,  by  providing  for  conventions  for  framing  constitu- 
tions and  electing  members  of  Congress;  and  a  few  days 
after  the  restoration  of  Mr.  Stanton,  a  new  bill  for  the  fur- 
ther reorganization  of  those  states  was  passed  by  the  House 
of  Representatives,  in  which  large  powers  were  given  to  the 
General  in  Chief   of  the  Armies,  in  their  military    govern- 
ments, and  depriving  the  President  of  all  power  to  interfere 
in  the  matter. 

12.  Attempt  to  Impeach  the  President. — During  this 
conflict  Congress  made  an  attempt  to  impeach  the  Presi- 
dent for  what  was  claimed  to  be  an  overt  violation  of  the 
constitution  in  his  attempt  to  expel  Mr.  Stanton  from  the 
Cabinet,  but  it  required  a  two-thirds  vote  to  do  this,  and 
Johnson  being  saved  from  disgrace  by  a  surplus  vote,  filled 
out  his  term. 

13.  The  Republican  Convention. — The  Republican  con- 
vention for  nominating  candidates  for  the  next  term  met  at 
Chicago  May  20, 1868.    It  was  unwavering  in  its  resolution 
to  secure  the  suffrage  of  the  liberated  slave  and  to  carry  out 
the  principles  already  begun  by  the  former  administration 
as  to  restoration. 

Ulysses  S.  Grant,  of  Illinois,  and  Schuyler  Colfax,  of 
Indiana,  were  nominated  as  candidates. 

14.  The    Democratic    Convention.— The     Democratic 
convention  met  in  New  York  City  July  4.    It  demanded 
that  seceding  states  should  be  restored   to  their  former 
status  in  the  Union  without  condition  and  left  the  question 
of  negro  suffrage  to  be  settled  by  each  state  in  its  own  way. 

Horatio  Seymour,  of  New  York,  and  Francis  P.  Blair,  of 
Missouri,  were  the  candidates. 

15.  Amendments  to  the  Constitution. — "  Sink  the  slave 
question  and  elevate  the  money  question,"  became  practi- 


TWENTY-FIRST  ADMINISTRATION.  361 

cally  the  motto,  and  to  this  end  amendments  were  made  to 
;he  Constitution,  which  gave  the  ballot  to  the  slave  after 
having  liberated  him. 

16.  The  XVth  Amendment.— The  XVth  amendment 
was  the  last  of  these.    It  was  made  by  the  resolution  of 
Congress  February  26,  1869,  and  became  the  law  of  the 
land  after  having  been  ratified  by  two-thirds  of  the  states. 
This  was  the  last  act  in  the  drama  (to  use  a  metaphor)  that 
raised  up  and  hurled  down  the  rebellion.    The  tide  was 
now  turning,  and  with  it  the  minor  details  of  reconstruc- 
tion. 

17.  Electoral  and  Popular  Votes.— The  electoral  votes 
for  the    candidates  for  the  next  presidential  term  were 
counted  in  February,  1869.    Grant  and  Colfax  had  214,  Sey- 
mour and  Blair  had  80. 

The  popular  vote  stood:  For  the  Republicans,  3,012,833; 
for  the  Democrats,  2,703,249.  Grant  and  Colfax  were  in- 
augurated March  4, 1869. 


Twenty=First  Administration. 

1.  Inroads  Into  the  Shore  Lines  of  the  Republic. — The 
ponderous  waves  of  the  civil  war  had  made  its  inroads  into 
the  shore  lines  of  the  republic,  as  it  was,  and  brought  new 
issues  upon  Congress  as  to  political  rights  of  the  seceding 
states,  which  had  now  by  the  condition  of   war  brought 
upon  themselves  a  state  of  territorial  bondage.  .This  had 
been  the  ground  on  which  the  preceding  administration 
had  appointed  principal  governors  for  each  of  the  states 
lately  in  rebellion.    But  there  was  a  division  of  sentiment 
on  this  question  among  the  northern  people,  nor  was  this 
feeling  entirely  limited  to  party  lines. 

2.  Ratification  of  the  Amendment  to  the  Constitution. 
— Pending  this  political  state  of  affairs,  the  administration 
had  taken  such  measures  as  forced  this  method  sore  against 
their  will  to  ratify  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
which  gave  liberty  and  civil  rights  to  the  slaves  ere  they 
would  be  represented  in  Congress,  and  to  remove  obstacles 
to  their  new  policy  the  supreme  bench  had  pronounced 
this  amendment  constitutional  ere  the  revolted  states  had 
been  required  to  accept  them. 

3.  The  Right  of  Franchise  to  the  Colored   Race.— 
As  might  be  supposed  this  was,  in  a  political  sense,  "  the 
most  unkindest  cut  of  all,"  to  force  a  state  to  pass  sentence 
on  itself,  but  there  was  no  other  way  out  of  the  dilemma, 


362 


TWENTY-FIRST  ADMINISTRATION. 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT, 

Born  at  Point  Pleasant,  Clermont  County,  Ohio, 

April  27,  1822. 

President  March  4,  i86p-March  4,  1877. 
Died  at  Mt.  McGregor,  New  York,  July  23,  1885. 

and  each  state  out  of  the  Union  by  acts  of  rashness  came  in 
again  by  acts  of  humility,  Georgia  being  the  last  to  yield, 
which  she  did  February  10,  1870.  And  here  it  is  not  im- 
proper to  say,  that  in  as  much  as  the  acts  had  not  been  sub- 
mitted to  a  popular  vote,  let  a  halo  of  charity  be  thrown 
over  the  American  citizen  whose  courage  shielded  his 
honor,  though  spent  in  a  vain  and  urgent  cause,  to  which 
sentiment  American  manhood  must  respond.  And  here  let 
it  not  be  forgotten  that  by  the  stern  decree  of  war  we  forced 


TWENTY-FIRST  ADMINISTRATION.  363 

the  bouth  to  do  what  we  had  not  done  ourselves,  and  might 
never  have  done  but  for  the  war,  and  to  be  consistent,  to 
extend  the  right  of  franchise  to  the  colored  race. 

4.  Issue  of  Bonds.— During    the  XLIst  Congress  the 
national   debt   was   funded.    Bonds    were    issued    to  the 
amount  of  $200,000,000  on  interest  at  five  per  cent.,  payable 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  government  after  ten  years;  bonds 
were  issued  to  the  amount  of  $300,000,000,  payable  after  fif- 
teen years,  bearing  four  and  one-half  per  cent,  interest;  and 
bonds  were  issued  to  the  amount  of  $1,000,000,000,  payable 
after  thirty  years,  at  four  per  cent,  interest. 

5.  **  Carpet  Baggers." — The  provincial  Governors  had 
become  objects  of  great  aversion  to  the  southern  people, 
and  that  very  questionable  means  had  been  taken  to  render 
their  official  acts  of  no  effect  was  clearly  proven  by  the  tes- 
timony of  committees  sent  to  the  South  to  make  reports.   In 
Congressional  discussions  on  this  subject  the  Democrats 
stigmatized  the  provincial  Governors  as  "carpet  baggers," 
and  made  the  most  of  their  mistakes  or  "despotic  acts  "  to 
censure  them,  and  the  Republican  policy  which  had  sent 
them  to  their  field  of  unthankful,  though  lucrative,  labor. 

6.  The  Enforcement  Act. — The  enforcement  act  became 
a  law  May  31, 1870.    It  gave  the  President  all  the  authority 
necessary  to  protect  the  free  men  in  those  civil  rights  that 
the    amendments   to    the  Constitution  had  guaranteed  to 
them,  but  the  failure  of  fully  achieving  the  desired  end  fur- 
nished another  of  the  many  illustrations  afforded  by  history 
that  public  opinion  sometimes  takes  the  form  of  the  higher 
law. 

7.  General  Grant   Nominated    for   a  Second  Term. — 
Republican  National  Convention  met  at  Philadelphia,  Janu- 
ary 5,  1872.     In  its  platform  no  abatement  of  its  vigorous 
reconstruction  policy  was  made.    General  Grant  was  nomi- 
nated for  a  second  term  as  candidate  for  President,  and 
Henry  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  candidate  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

8.  Liberal  Republicans. — The  Republican  party  were 
not  unanimous  in  his  support,  owing  to  the  extreme  meas- 
ure which  had  been  taken  in  reconstructing  the  states  lately 
in  rebellion.    They  called  themselves  Liberal  Republicans, 
and  had  already  held  their  nominating  convention  in  Cin- 
cinnati on  May  1. 

Horace  Greeley,  of  New  York,  and  B.  Gratz  Brown,  of 
Missouri,  were  their  nominees. 

9.  Position  of  the  Democrats. — The  Democratic  con- 
vention met  in  Baltimore  on  the  9th  of  July  following.   The 
position  they  occupied  was  peculiar.    The  Liberal  Repub- 


364  TWENTY-FIRST  ADMINISTRATION. 

licans  had  already  occupied  the  only  ground  on  which  they 
could  take  issue  with  the  Republicans,  and  they  joined 
hands  with  them  by  accepting  their  standard  bearer  as  their 
own. 

10.  Not  Regarded  with  Favor  by  the  Old  Time  Demo- 
crats. — This  official  act  of  the  leaders  of  the  party,  however 
political  it  might  have  been,  was  not  regarded  with  favor  by 
the  old  time  Democrats,  and  they  met  in  convention  at 
Louisville,  Ky.,  September  3,  and  nominated  for  President 
Charles  O'Connor,  of  New  York,  and  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  as  candidates  for  the  next  term. 

n.  Their  Platform. — In  their  platform  they  repudiated 
the  action  of  the  preceding  Democratic  convention  of  Bal 
timore,  and  aimed  a  blow  at  the  reconstruction  acts  of  the 
administration,  by  a  resolution  that  the  constitution  of  each 
state  was  sufficient  to  protect  life,  liberty  and  property 
within  its  domain. 

12.  Anti-Masonry  Come  to  the  Surface  Again. — The 
subject  of  Anti-Masonry  had  been    dormant  in  political 
circles  since  1836,  but  it  now  came  to  the  surface  again  under 
the  name  of  the  National  Christian  Association  for  the  pur- 
pose of  engrafting  it  into  state  policy.    To  this  end  a  con- 
vention was  held  in  Oberlin,  Ohio,  May  23, 1872,  to  nomi- 
nate candidates  for  President  and  Vice-PresSdent  of  the 
United  States,  in  which  Charles  Francis  Adams,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  Rev.  J.  L.  Barlow  were  chosen  as  standard 
bearers. 

13.  The  Prohibition  of  the  Liquor  Traffic.— Besides 
opposition    to    secret    societies  their    platform  contained 
resolutions  against  spirituous  liquor  traffic,  and  in  favor  of 
legal    enactments    to  enforce    the  sacred  keeping  of  the 
Sabbath.    The  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  had  long 
been  a  subject  of  legislation  in  many  of  the  states,  but  now , 
for  the  first  time  it  was  to  be  introduced  into  national 
politics  by  its  advocates. 

14.  Candidates. — A   nominating  convention    met    for 
this  object  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  February  22.     James  Black, 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  John  Bussel,  of  Michigan,  were  chosen 
as  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President. 

,  15.  An  Emphatic  Protest. — Their  platform  was  an 
emphatic  protest  against  the  manufacture  or  sale  of  spiri- 
tuous liquors,  and  recognized  the  right  of  the  State  to  pro- 
hibit both  by  legislation.  It  can  hardly  be  denied  that  out 
of  the  conscientious  motives  so  many  Republicans  had  re- 
fused to  endorse  the  impolicy  of  the  military  governors 
that  there  were  some  apprehension  that  theGreeley  depar- 
iure  might  become  the  channel.  The  possibility  of  this 


TWENTY-SECOND  ADMINISTRATION.  365 

called  forth  prompt  and  energetic  advocacy  on  the  part 
of  the  straight  Republicans.  O'Connor  and  Adams  had 
refused  to  run  on  the  straight  Democratic  ticket,  and  this 
complicated  the  matter  in  the  eyes  of  sensitive  Republic- 
ans. But  if  the  contest  had  been  doubtful  at  first,  it  did  not 
long  remain  so.  "What  Mr.  Greeley  knew  about  farming," 
and  hts  having  signed  the  bail  bond  of  Jefferson  Davis,  to- 
gether with  various  honest  eccentricities  in  his  social  as  well 
as  his  political  life,  were  made  the  instruments  by  which 
supreme  ridicule  had  been  unmercifully  showered  down 
upon  the  "Philosopher,"  as  he  was  called  in  contempt,  and 
he  died  several  weeks  after  the  day  of  election,  as  some 
averred,  from  the  effects  of  the  mortification  consequent 
upon  these  attacks. 

16.  Results  of  the  Election.— The  votes  of  the  electoral 
college  in  the  following  February  showed  for  Grant  and 
Wilson  286. 

There  were  66  Democratic  votes;  42  were  cast  for 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  who  had  been  substituted 
for  Mr.  Greeley  deceased,  and  24  were  scattering. 

Brown,  the  candidate  for  V ice-President,  received  4? 
votes,  and  there  14  scattering.  The  votes  of  Louisiana  and 
Arkansas  were  rejected,  on  the  ground  of  alleged  fraud  in 
the  election.  The  popular  vote  stood,  Republicans,  3,597,- 
132;  Democrat,  or  Greeley  Republicans,  2,834,125;  Prohi- 
bition, 5,508. 

Grant  and  Wilson  were  inaugurated  March  4, 18731 


Twenty=Second  Administration. 

I.  Friction  Growing  Out  of  Reconstruction. — The  fric- 
tion growing  out  of  reconstruction  was  still  manifest  when 
General  Grant  began  his  second  term. 

Under  the  authority  of  the  provincial  governors  of  the 
states  lately  in  rebellion,  the  slave  had  become  a  citizen 
according  to  the  new  change  in  the  Constitution.  This  was 
owned  as  a  humiliation  by  the  white  citizen,  and  after  the 
military  governors  had  been  withdrawn  the  old  doctrine 
of  state  rights  was  brought  into  requisition  wherewith  to 
mitigve  their  grievances  as  they  considered  them.  But, 
ala«  tor  their  cherished  "palladium  of  liberty  as  the 
South  viewed  it!  State  rights  as  to  qualifications  for  the 
right  of  suffrage  were  no  more  The  new  changes  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  which  they  had  been  com- 
pelled to  subscribe  to,  or  remain  in  territorial  vassalage 


dbb  TWENTY-SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

under  military  governors,  forbade  strict  action  or.  this  mat- 
ter, and  while  legal  submission  was  the  only  alternative, 
yet  by  means  of  throwing  obstacles  in  the  way  of  negro 
suffrage  successful  means  to  prevent  it  we're  brought  about. 
Nor  did  the  southern  people  hesitate  to  use  violence  in  many 
cases  to  achieve  the  desired  ends. 

2.  Quarrel  in.  the  Republican   Party. — Louisiana  was 
the  first  scene  of  these  acts.    To  make  the  matter  worse  a 
quarrel  in  the  Republican  party  here  sprung  up  in   the 
division,  or  rather  the  appropriation  of  the  spoils.    Two 
rival  governors,  with  their  legislatures,  had  been  organized 
in  this  state,  each  claiming  authority  by  virtue  of  popular 
elections.     But  the  votes  of  these  election  had  been  counted 
by  two  sets  of  returning  boards;  one  of  these  boards  having 
been  chosen  in  the  interest  of  the  White  League  and  the 
other  in  the  interest  of  the  Republicans. 

3.  Illegal  Acts  on  the  Part  of  Both. — John  McEnery 
was  the  governor-elect,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Democratic 
returning  board,  and  Wm.  Pitt  Kellogg  governor  elect,  in 
the  estimation  of  the  Republican  returning  board.    The  con- 
gressional debates  on  the  respective  merits  of  each  brought 
to  light  very  unsavory  and  illegal  acts  on  the  part  of  both. 

4.  The  States  Assume  Control  of  Their  Own  Affairs.— 
The  Democrats  of  the  North  were,  as  a  party,  adverse  to  the 
Kellogg  government,  while  the  Republicans  were  not  a  unit 
as  to  its  legality.     Previous  to   1875  all  the  states  lately   in 
the  rebellion,  except  Louisiana,  Florida  and  South  Carolina, 
had  assumed  control  of  their  own   affairs,  without  further 
congressional  guidance,  and  had  taken  their  old  places   in 
the  Union  as  democratic  states. 

5.  XLIVth  Congress. — With  their  assistance,  together 
with  some  substitution  of   Democratic  or    Republican  con- 
gressmen from  northern   states,  M.    C.    Kerr,    of   Indiana, 
Democrat,  was  elected  speaker  of  the  XLIVth  Congress, 
which  began  its  session  in  December,  1875. 

6.  Discrepancy  Between  the  Value  of  Gold  and  Paper 
Money. — During    the    war,    when    the  great  discrepancy 
between  the  market  value  of  gold  and  paper  money  was 
constantly  changing  a  convention  of  farmers  was  held  at 
Bloomington,  Illinois,  in  order  to  adopt  a  labor  and  green- 
back theory  uniting  the  economical   interests  of  the  coun- 
try, and  preventing  speculation  in  the  currency. 

7.  Labor  and  Greenback  Party.— In  1868  a  Labor  and 
Greenback  party  was  formed  in  New  York  to  advocate  the 
same  cause,  at  which  Peter  Cooper  stood  at  the  head,  which 
was  the  first  political  action  taken  to  substitute  paper  for 
metallic  currency. 


TWENTY-SECOND   ADMINISTRATION. 


367 


PETER  COOPER, 
Candidate  for  President — Greenback  Party. 

8.  Policy  of  Greenback  Party. — It  embraced  the  wage 
labor  interest,  anti-monopoly,  opposition  to  the  specie  re- 
demption currency  system,  claiming  that  Congress  has  the 
sole  power  to  issue  or  coin  money  and  regulate  its  value; 
that  money  is  simply  a  government  authenticated  tool  of 
trade — a  tally  to  register  and  transmit  from  hand  to  hand 
the  value  amounts  of  the  internal  changes,  and  that  only 
the  state  has  the  power  to  fix  the  value  in  the  currency  from 
whatever  materials  it  may  be  made — the  precious  metals 
or  paper;  that  at  present  money  should  be  made  of  paper, 
to  be  issued  solely  by  the  government,  in  amounts  sufficient 
to  transact  the  business  of  the  nation  and  no  more. 


368  TWENTY-SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 

9.  Their  Candidates. — Under  this  policy  the  Green- 
back party  came  before  the  country,  and  assembled  in  con- 
vention at  Indianapolis  May  17, 1876.    It  nominated  Peter 
Cooper,  of  New  York,  and  Samuel  F.  Gary,  of  Ohio,  as  can- 
didates for  President  and  Viee-President  for  the  next  term. 

10.  Their  Arguments. — One  of  the  arguments  used  by 
this  party,  in  the  popular  canvass,  was  the  precedent  which 
the  government  itself  had  established  in  the  legal-tender  act. 

This  was  exclusively  a  Republican  measure,  and  one  to 
which  the  Democrats  were  opposed,  on  the  ground  of  un- 
constitutionally, and  at  the  December  term  of  the  supreme 
court  in  1869  a  decision  was  rendered  to  this  effect.  Sub- 
sequently, an  increase  of  two  Republican  judges  constitut- 
ing this  court,  reyersed  this  decision  in  March,  1870,  and 
unredeemable  greenbacks  still  furnished  the  country  with 
money  for  an  indefinite  period. 

11.  The    Prohibition    Party. — The    Prohibition   party 
met  in  convention  to  nominate  candidates  for  President  and 
Vice-President  for  the  next  term,  in  Cleveland   May  17. 
Their  platform   demanded  the   prohibition   of  the   liquor 
traffic  and  manufacture  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the 
territories,  and  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  by  author- 
ity of  which  such  restrictions  might  become  universal. 

Green  Clay  Smith,  of  Kentucky,  and  G.  T.  Stewart,  of 
Ohio,  were  their  nominees. 

12.  The      National     Christian      Association.  —  The 
National  Christian  Association,  whose  platform  went  against 
all  secret  societies  and   in   favor  of  prohibition,  held  their 
nominating  convention  at  Pittsburg,  Pa..  June  9,  1875,  and 
nominated    as  their   candidates  fov  President  and  Vice- 
President  James  B.Walker,  of  HI?  no;  ,  and  Donald  Kirk 
Patrick,  of  New  York. 

13.  The    Republican    Convention. — The    Republican 
convention  met    at  Cincinnati  June  14.    It  confirmed  its 
position  as  to  the  transcendent  power  of  the  Constitution 
over  the  states,  and  advocated  a  tariff  sufficient  to  meet  the 
entire  expenses  of  the  general  government.  It  also  claimed 
the  right   of  Congress  to  suppress  polygamy  in  the  terri- 
tories and  advocated  such  action. 

It  nominated  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  of  Ohio,  and  Wm 
A.  Wheeler,  of  New  York,  as  their  candidates. 

14.  The    Democratic    Convention. — The    Democratic 
convention  met  at  St.  Louis  June  27th.    They  demanded 
retrenchment  and  reform  in  the  administration,  a  speed} 
return  to  specie  payment,  a  reduction  and  modification  of 
the    tariff,  and   a    discrimination    against   Chinese  immi- 
gration. 


TWENTY-SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. 


369 


SAMUEL  J.  TILDEN, 
"  Democratic  Candidate  for  President. 

Samuel  J.  Tilden,  of  New  York,  and  Thomas  A.  Hen- 
dricks,  of  Indiana,  were  their  nominees. 

15.  Bofh  Parties  Claimed  Three  Southern  States.— 
The  popular  election  of  November  7,  1876,  resulted  in  the 
states  of  Connecticnt,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Indiana 
and  all  the  southern  states  except  Louisiana,  South  Carolina 
and  Florida  going  for  the  Democrats.    The  Republicans 
carried  the  other  states,  but  both  parties  claimed  the  three 
southern  states  just  mentioned.    The  matter  was  settled  by 
a  special  intervention  of  Congress  in  establishing  an  elec 
toral  commission  to  decide  the  case. 

16.  Validity  of  the  Louisiana  and  Florida  Elections.- 
It  hinged  on  the  validity  of  the  Louisiana  and  Florida  elec 


870  TWENTY-THIRD  ADMINISTRATION. 

tions;  the  Republicans  claiming  that  fraud  and  violence  had 
been  used  there  to  secure  a  Democratic  majority,  while  the 
Democrats  denied  the  charge,  and  claimed  that  in  as  much 
as  said  election  returns  had  been  legally  made,  Congress 
had  not  power  to  exclude  them,  even  if  the  election  had  not 
been  a  fair  one. 

17.  The  Report  of  the   Electoral  Commission. —The 
report  of  the  electoral  commission,  after  spending  consider- 
able time  in  canvassing  the  subject,  resulted  in  a  resolution 
that  the  two  houses  of  the  XLIVth  Congress,  having  counted 
the  electoral  votes  have  declared  as  final  the  election  of  the 
Republican  nominees. 

18.  Decision  in  Favor  of  the  Kellogg  Government. — 
By  the  action  of  the  commission  the  votes  of  Louisiana  and 
Florida    had  been  transferred  from  the  Democratic  to  the 
Republican  side,  which  gave  Hayes  and  Wheeler  185  votes 
against  184  for  Tilden  and  Hendricks.     Here  it  ought  not  to 
be  omitted  to  state  that  this  discriminating  decision  hinged 
in  a  discrimination  as  to  which  of  the  two  factions  in  Louis- 
iana described  in  a  foregoing  page  was  legal,  and  that  the 
decision  in  favor  of  the  Kellogg  government  gave  the  elec- 
tion to  Mr.  Hayes.    Up  to  this  time,  the  legality  of  neither 
of  the  Lawrence  factions  had  been  acknowledged  by  the 
administration. 

19.  Number  of  Votes  Cast. — The  popular  vote  stood 
4,033,950  Republican  and  4,284,885  Democratic.    The  pop- 
ular Greenback  vote  was  81,740.    The  popular  Prohibition 
vote  was  9,522. 

Hayes  and  Wheeler  were  inaugurated  March  5, 1877. 


Twenty=Third  Administration. 

i.  Reconstruction  Reaches  Its  Limit. — Reconstruc- 
tion had  reached  its  limit  in  severity  when  Hayes  assumed 
the  executive  responsibility  of  the  nation,  for  the  reason 
that  a  considerate  public  opinion  in  the  Republican  ranks 
demanded  a  more  charitable,  not  to  say  more  just  course 
toward  the  statesmen  subjected  to  the  rule  of  military 
governors  who  had  used  their  arbitray  power  more  to  en- 
rich themselves  than  to  bring  wholesome  laws  to  the  states 
over  which  they  ruled. 

2.  "The  Bloody  Shirt  Republicans."— This  wing  of 
the  Republican  party  were  now  substantially  in  alliance 
with  the  entire  Democratic  party  on  this  issue,  and  Mr. 


TWENTY-THIRD  ADMINISTRATION.  371 

Hayes  himself  shared  this  sentiment  and  adopted  a  policy  in 
accordance  with  it.  This  gave  great  offence  to  the  extreme 
Republicans,  who  were  now  dubbed  "The  Bloody  Shirt  Re- 
publican" party. 

3.    A  Critical  Moment. — The  moment  was  critical,  the 
blood  of  stalwart  Republicanism  was  up,  notwithstanding 


RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES, 

Born  at  Delaware,  Delaware  County,  Ohio, 

October  4,  1822. 
President  March  4,  i877-March  4,  1881. 

Died  January  17,  1893. 

which  Mr.  Hayes  promptly  withdrew  the  United  States 
troops  from  Louisiana  and  South  Carolina,  and  recom- 
mended the  governors  of  those  states  to  resign. 

Senators  Conklin.Logan  and  Cameron  predicted  that  such 
a  course  would  be  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the  party, 
but  the  Executive  held  the  South  as  near  as  possible  to  a 
strict  observance  of  the  terms  prescribed  in  the  late  con- 
stitutional amendment  and  no  such  result  followed. 

4.  The  Army  Used  to  Influence  Elections. — Owing  to 
Democratic  votes,  the  appropriation  brought  up  to  the 
XLVth  Congress  for  the  support  of  the  army,  was  defeated. 
The  grounds  on  which  they  opposed  the  bill  were  that  the 
army  was  used  as  a  means  by  which  to  influence  elections. 
At  a  subsequent  session,  being  an  extra  session,  the  Demo- 
crats softened  and  allowed  the  bill  to  pass. 


872 


TWENTY-THIRD   ADMINISTRATION. 


HORACE  GREELEY. 

Founder  of  the  New  York  Tribune  and  Candidate  for 
President  in  1872. 

5.  A  Bill  for  the  Unlimited  Coinage  of  Silver.— At  the 
same  session  a  bill  for  the  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  was 
passed,  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1879,  the  government 
resumed  specie  payments,  the  banks  throughout  the  country 
doing  the  same. 

6.  A  Democratic  Measure. — Each  subsequent  appro- 
priation bill,  during  Mr.  Hayes*  administration,  was  passed, 
but  not  without  Democratic  opposition  for  causes  already 
told.    But  in  the  regular  session  of  1879  a  bill  was  passed 
to  prevent  Congress  from  using  the  army  to  keep  peace 
at  the  polls.    This  was  a  Democratic  measure,  arid  designed 
to  relieve  the  southern  election  polls  from  military  restraint, 
and  the  President  approved  it,  thereby  showing  that  he 
held  to  justice  as  he  viewed  above  party  ties. 

7.  An  "  Era  of  Good  Feeling." — He  was  no  partisan, 
and  did  little  or  nothing  in  his  whole  administration  cal- 
culated to  bring  strength  on  his  party  except  on  the  broad 
principle  that  true  statesmanship  does  it;  and  it  is  not  too 


TWENTY-THIRD  ADMINISTRATION.  373 

much  to  say,  that  an  "  era  of  good  feeling,"  similar  to  that 
which  Monroe  brought  about  by  non-partisanship  action, 
was  the  result. 

8.  The  Republican  Nominating  Convention. — The  Re- 
publican nominating  convention  met  at  Chicago  June  2, 
1880.    It  charged   upon  the  Democrats  the    sacrifice   of 
patriotism  to  lust  for  office  and  patronage,  after  which  it 
advocated  public  improvements,  opposed  polygamy  and 
Chinese  immigration,  and  approved  the  administration  of 
Mr.  Hayes,  which  was  a  decided  vindication  of  his  recon- 
struction policy. 

James  A.  Garfield,  of  Ohio,  and  Chester  A.  Arthur,  of 
New  York,  were  nominated  as  their  candidates  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-President. 

9.  The    National   Greenback    Party.— The    national 
Greenback  party  met  in  convention  at  Chicago  June  9, 1880, 
to  nominate  Presidential  candidates  for  the  next  term.     If 
claimed  that  government,  instead  cf  banks,  should  have  the 
power  of  making  and  putting  in  circulation  money;  that 
bonds  should  not  be  refunded,  but  paid  accordingto  contract, 
and  to  enable  the  government  to  do  this,  legal  tender  notes 
should  take  the  place  of  bank  currency. 

James  B.  Weaver,  for  President,  and  B.  J.  Chambers,  for 
Vice-President,  were  nominated  as  candidates. 

10.  The  Prohibition  Reform  Party  Convention. — The 
Prohibition  reform  party  held  their  nominating  convention 
for  the  next  term  at  Cleveland,  June  17, 1880.   Its  elaborate 
platform    was    an   argument    in  favor  of  the  principles 
announced  by  them  at  previous  conventions. 

Neal  Dow,  of  Maine,  was  nominated  as  candidate  for 
President,  and  H.  A.  Thompson,  of  Ohio,  candidate  for 
Vice-President. 

11.  National    Christian    Association.— The    National 
Christian  Association  met  in  convention  at  Chicago  June 
17,1880.    Opposition  to  secret  societies  was  their  primary 
requisition,  with  other  requirements  of  a  Christian  character 
to  accompany  it,  also  female  suffrage. 

Its  nominations  were  J.  W.  Phelps,  of  Vermont,  for 
President,  and  S.  C.  Pomeroy,  of  Washington,  for  Vice- 
President. 

12.  The    Democratic    Convention.— The    Democratic 
convention    met   at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  June  22,  1880.      It 
charged  the  Republicans  as  conspirators  in  rewarding  po- 
litical crime,  Claimed  that  the  election  of  Hayes  was  secured 
by  fraud,  and  congratulated  *he  country  on  the  honesty  of 
the  late  Congress,  which  was  Democratic,  and  had  saved 
$10,000,000  per  year  in  public  expenditures.    It  advocated 


374  TWENTY-FOURTH   ADMINISTRATION. 

a  tariff  for  revenue  only,  which  was  then  in  accordance  with 
Mr.  Hayes'  recommendation,  and  opposed  Chinese  immi- 
gration. W.  S.  Hancock,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Wm.  H. 
English,  of  Indiana,  were  their  candidates  for  President 
and  Vice-President. 

13.  The  Elected  Candidates. — The  votes  of  the  elec- 
toral college  in  February,  1881,  subsequent  to  the  popular 
election  of  November  previous,  stood  as  follows:.  For  Gar- 
field  and  Arthur,  214;  for  Hancock  and  English,  155. 

The  popular  Republican  vote  was  4,454,416;  Democratic 
vote,  4,444,952;  Greenback  vote,  308,578;  Prohibition,  10,305. 

Garfield  and  Arthur  were  inaugurated  March  4, 1881. 


Twenty=fourth   Administration. 

1.  President  Garfield's  Policy. — President  Garfield,  in 
his  inaugural  address,  promised  full  and  equal  protection 
of  the  Constitution  and  laws  for  every  citizen,  irrespective 
of  race  or  color;  advocated  universal  education  as  a  safe- 
guard or  suffrage;  recommended  such  an  adjustment  of  our 
monetary  system  "  that  the  purchasing  power  of  every  coined 
dollar  will  be  exactly  equal  to  its  debt-paying  power  in  all 
the  markets  of  the  world,  and  that  the  national  debt  should 
be  refunded  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest,  without  compelling 
the  withdrawal  of   national  bank  notes;    the   prohibition 
of  polygamy  within  the  borders  of  our  republic,  and  the 
regulation  of  the  civil  service  by  laws."    These  were  the 
principle  points  discussed  in  the  inaugural  address. 

2.  A  Struggle  in  the  Senate. — At  the  very  beginning 
of  the  new  administration  there  was  a  struggle  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  between  the  two  great  parties  (Repub- 
lican and  Democratic),  for  power  in  that  body,  each  refus- 
ing to  yield  on  the  question  of  completing  the  organization, 
one  wishing  to  elect  new  officers  of  that  body,  the  other 
insisting  upon  keeping  the  old  ones.    There  was  a  dead- 
lock for  several  weeks. 

3.  A  Strife  Concerning  the  Confirmation  of  Nomina- 
tions Made  by  the  President. — There  was  also  a  strife 
concerning  the  confirmation  of  nominations  made  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  of  incumbents  for  office 
in  the  state  of  New  York,  particularly  that  of  the  collector 
of  the  port  of  New  York.    The  nominee  for  that  _  office, 
it  was  concluded,  was  thoroughly  qualified  to  fill  it;  but 


TWENTY-FOURTH   ADMINISTRATION. 


375 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD, 

Born  at  Orange,  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio, 

November  19,  1831. 

President  March  4,  i88i-September  19,  1881. 
Died  at  Elberon,  New  Jersey,  September  19,  1881. 

was  personally  distasteful  to  the  senior  United  States  senator 
(Roscoe  Conkling)  from  New  York,  and  he  vehemently 
urged  his  rejection  by  the  Senate. 

4.  New  York  Unrepresented  in  the  Senate. — Because 
the  Senate  could  not  agree  with  him,  the  senator  resigned 
his  seat,  deserted  his  post  and  returned  home  taking  with 
him  his  senatorial  colleague,  so  leaving  the  great  state  of 
New  York  unrepresented  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States 


376  TWENTY-FOURTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  President  withdrew  all  of  the  nominations  of  New 
York,  excepting  that  for  the  collectorship  which  was  imme- 
diately confirmed,  and  the  Senate  adjourned  May  20, 
sine  die.  The  New  York  Legislature  was  in  session  at  that 
time,  and  was  compelled  to  take  immediate  steps  to  fill  the 
seats  deserted  by  the  two  New  York  senators. 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR, 

Born  in  Franklin  County,  Vermont,  October  5,  1830. 
President  September  20,  i88i-March  4,  1885. 
Died  at  New  York  City,  November  18,  1886. 

5.  The  Vacancy  Filled. — Mr.  Conkling  had  no  doubt  that 
he  and  his  colleague  would  be  immediately  rechosen  to  fill 
their  vacated  seats.    He  was  mistaken.    Instead  of  meeting 
general  support  and  sympathy,  he  encountered  general  oppo- 
sition and  indignation  among  his  political  friends  and  others 
for  his  unwarranted  course.     Perceiving  this,  he  repaired 
to  the  state  capitol,  and  there  conducted,  for  several  weeks, 
a  most  unseemly  personal  struggle  for  a  re-election,  but  was 
defeated.     His  seat  and  that  of  his  colleague  were  filled  by 
the  choice  of  two  other  men.     This  strife  at  Albany  had 
agitated  the  whole  nation,  and  in  the  final  result  the  people 
felt  great  relief. 

6.  Various  Treaties  Confirmed. — While  these  personal 
struggles  were  going  on  at  Washington   and  Albany,  the 
government,  which  was  moving  on  in  successful  progress, 
had  confirmed  important  treaties;  one  with  China  concern- 
ing immigration  and  commerce;  an  extradition  treaty  with 
the  United  States  of  Columbia;  a  consular  convention  with 
Italy,  modifying  and  defining  the  judicial  powers  of  certain 


TWENTY-FOURTH  ADMINISTRATION 


377 


consulates;  a  convention  with  Morocco  respecting  the  tax- 
ation prerogatives  of  the  Moorish  government,  and  a  treaty 
with  Japan  prescribing  reciprocal  duties  for  the  Japanese 
and  United  States  governments  in  case  of  shipwrecks  upon 
their  respective  coasts. 


Young  Garfield  driving  team  on  the  canal. 


7.  Ill  Feeling  of  Disappointed  Office  Seekers. — On 
May  18  the  Senate  postponed  the  resolution  asserting  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  in  the  case  of  the  Isthmus  Ship  Canal, 
The  fearful  agitation  of  the  people  by  the  humiliating 
strife  for  office  at  Albany  intensified  the  ill  feeling  of  dis- 
appointed office  seekers  everywhere,  and  produced  its 
logical  results 

'8.  President  Garfield  Shot  by  Charles  Guiteau.— 
While  that  struggle  was  at  its  height  the  nation  was  ap- 
palled by  the  fact  that  one  of  this  dangerous  class— dan- 
gerous alike  to  public  order  and  public  virtue — had  shot  the 


878 


TWENTY-FOURTH   ADMINISTRATION. 


President  of  the  United  States  as  he  was  about  to  leave  the 
capital  on  atrip  to  New  York  and  New  England.  The  ter- 
rible deed  was  done  at  the  station  of  the  Baltimore  &  Poto- 
mac railway,  in  Washington  at  about  9  o'clock  on  Saturday. 
July  2, 1881,  where  he  was  to  be  joined  by  members  of  his 
cabinet.  As  he  was  walking  through  the  passenger  rocm 


JAMES  G.  ELAINE, 
Secretary  of  State  under  President  Garfield. 


arm  in  arm  with  Mr.  Elaine,  the  Secretary  of  State,  two  pis- 
tol shots  were  fired  in  succession  from  behind  them  and  the 
President  sank  to  the  floor  bleeding  profusely.  Only  one 
!*hot  touched  his  body;  that  entered  it  through  the  eleventh 
rib,  about  four  inches  to  the  right  of  the  spine,  and  taking  a 


TWENTY-FOURTH   ADMINISTRATION  379 

tortuous  course  lodged  some  distance  to  the  left  of  the  lum- 
bar vertebrae  at  the  lower  margin  of  the  pancreas.  It  was 
externally  a  jagged  wound,  caused  by  a  ball  known  as  cali- 
bre 44,  The  wounded  President  was  at  first  carried  to  a 
room  in  the  second  story  of  the  building  where  he  was  shot, 
and  later  was  carried  to  the  executive  mansion. 

9.  Arrest  of  the  Assassin. — The  assassin  was  instantly 
arrested  by  a  police  officer  (Kearney)  to  whom  he  said- 
"  1  did  it,  and  will  go  to  jail  for  it;  I  am  a  Stalwart  (the 
political  name  given  to  the  friends  of  Senator  Conkling  in 
the  strife  then  going  on),  and  Arthur  will  be  President." 

10.  Guiteau's  Letter. — In  his  pocket  was  found  the  fol- 
lowing letter  directed  to  the  White  House:  "  The  President's 
tragic  death  was  a  sad  necessity;  but  it  will  unite  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  save  the  republic.    Life  is  a  flimsy  dream, 
and  it  matters  little  when  one  goes.    A  human  life  is  of  small 
value.     During  the  war  thousands  of  brave  boys  went  down 
without  a  tear.     I  presume  the  President  was  a  Christian, 
and  that  he  will  be  happier  in  paradise  than  here  —  in  Para- 
dise,    It  will  be  no  worse  for   Mrs.  Garfield,  dear  soul, 
to  part  with  her  husband  this  way  than  by  natural  death 
He  is  liable  to  go  at  any  time,  any  way.     I  had  no  ill  will 
toward  the  President.    His  death  was  a  political  necessity. 

"I  am  a  lawyer,  a  theologian,  and  a  politican.  I  am 
a  Stalwart  of  the  Stalwarts.  I  was  with  Gen.  Grant  and  the 
rest  of  our  men  in  New  York  during  the  canvass.  I  have 
some  papers  for  the  press,  which  I  shall  leave  with  Byron 
Andrews  and  his  co-journalists  at  1240  New  York  avenue, 
where  all  the  reporters  can  see  them.  I  am  going  to  the 
jail.  CHARLES  GUITEAU." 

11.  Garfield's  Death. — Mr.  Garfield  died  of  his  wounds 
on  the  19th  of  the  following  September,  a  shining  mark  of 
sympathy  amd  affection  of  his  country.    Chester  A.  Arthur, 
the  Vice-President,  was  inaugurated  President  the  next  dav 
after  his  death. 

12.  The  Civil  Service  Bill  Passed.— The  Civil  Service 
bill  was  passed  during  this  administration,  the  features  of 
which  was  to  retain  persons  in  the  public  service  through  any 
political  change  in  the  administration,  but  there  being  no 
positive  lines  of  demarkation  in  the  bill  it  is  still  optional 
with  the  administration  to  discharge  any  one  from  his  posi- 
tion, it  being  a  matter  of  opinion  as  to  the  merit  of  the  in- 
cumbent. 


380 


TWENTY-FOURTH    ADMINISTRATION. 


13.  Various  Bills  Passed. — The  tariff  question  occupied 
the  attention  of  Congress  to  a  large  extent,  but  without 
definite  results.  May  3,  1884,  a  bill  was  passed  to  prevent 
the  immigration  of  Chinese  laborers  to  the  United  States 
for  ten  years.  June  12  following  a  bill  appropriating 
$8,079,000  for  improving  rivers  and  harbors  was  passed. 
On  the  29th  of  February  following,  $2,500,000  was  appropri- 
ated for  building  cruisers  and  gunboats. 


THE  HON.  JOHN  A.  LOGAN,  OF  ILLINOIS, 
U.  S.  Senator  from  Illinois — Candidate  for  Vice-President. 

14.  The  Republican  Convention. — The  Republican  con- 
vention to  nominate  candidates  for  the  next  presidential 
term,  met  at  Chicago  June  3, 1884.  In  its  platform  it  recom- 
mended duties  on  foreign  imports,  both  for  revenue  and 
protection,  James  G.  Elaine  was  nominated  as  candidate 
tor  President,  and  John  A.  Logan  for  Vice-President. 


TWENTY-FOURTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER, 
Candidate  for  President—Greenback  Party. 

15.  The    Democratic    Convention. — The    Democratic 
convention  to  nominate  candidates  for  President  and  Vice- 
President  met  at  Chicago  July  7,  1884.     In  its  platform  it 
accused  the  Republican  party  of  misdirections  of  the  pub- 
lic money,  particularly  as  to  improvements  and  in  the  in- 
crease of  the  naval  service.     It  promised  tariff  reform  by 
reduction  of  what  it  termed  excessive  rates.    Grover  Cleve- 
land was  nominated  as  candidate  for  President  and  Thomas 
A.  Hendricks  for  Vice-President. 

16.  Convention  of  the  Greenback  Party. — The  conven- 
tion of  the  Greenback  party  met  at  Indianapolis  May  28, 
1884,  to  nominate  their  candidates.     It  reiterated  its  claim 
that  Congress  had  the  right  to  control  the  issue  of  legal 
tender  notes,  and  demanded  the  substitution  of  greenbacks 
for  national  bank  notes.    Benjamin  F.  Butler  was  the  nom- 
inee for  President  and  A.  M.  West  for  Vice-President 

25 


882  TWENTY-FOURTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

17.  The  Prohibition  Convention. — The  Prohibition  con- 
vention  met  at  Pittsburg  July  23, 1884.  In  its  platform  it 
set  forth  the  evils  of  intemperance  and  demanded  national 
measures  to  suppress  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxi- 
cants. John  P.  St.  John  was  nominated  as  candidate  for 
President  and  William  Daniels  for  Vice-President. 


THE  HON.  JOHN  P.  ST.  JOHN, 


18.  Cleveland  and  Hendricks  Elected. — The  votes  of 
the  electoral  college  in  February,  1885,  subsequent  to  the 
popular  election  of  November,  1884,  stood  as  follows:  For 
Cleveland  and  Hendricks,  219;  for  Elaine  and  Logan,  182. 
The  popular  Democratic  vote  was  4,874,986;  Republican, 
4,851,981;  Greenback,  175,370;  Prohibition,  150,369. 

Cleveland  and  Hendricks  were  inaugurated  March  4, 
1885. 


TWENTY-FIFTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


383 


GROVER  CLEVELAND, 

Born  at  Caldwell,  Essex  County,  New  Jersey, 

March  18,  1837. 

President,  first  term,  March  4,  i88s-March  4,  1889. 
President,  second  term,  March  4,  1893 — March  4,  1897. 

Twenty-fifth  Administration. 

I.  Clean  Cut  Lines  Between  the  Two  Great  Political 
Parties  on  the  Tariff. — During  the  political  canvass  that 
had  resulted  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  the  want  of 
policy  was  manifest  in  each  party,  inasmuch  as  the  tariff 
Question  had  not  been  formulated  into  a  defined  policy,  as 
it  was  destined  to  be  at  a  later  date.  But  not  long  after 
his  inauguration  this  issue  began  to  take  shape  and  form 
sufficient  to  give  clean  cut  lines  of  representation  between 
the  two  great  political  parties  that  divided  the  country  on 
distinct  issues  and  these  were  on  the  tariff. 


884  TWENTY-FIFTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

2.  The  Treaty  With  England.— Aside  from  this  issue 
*[ie  most  important  question  which  has  become  before  Mr. 
Cleveland's  administration  is  the  treaty  with  England  to 
adjust  complaints  growing  out  of  the  fishery  question.    A 
treaty  had  been  negotiated  by  commissioners,  but  it  was 
not  ratified  by  the  President  and  Congress,  on  the  ground 
that  it  did  not  secure  the  just  rights  of  America,  and  this 
prolific  source  of  petty  annoyance  is  still  unsettled. 

3.  The  Inter-state  Commerce  Law. — The  Inter-state 
Commerce  Law,  regulating  and    equalizing    railroads  on 
freights  and  passengers  throughout  the  United  States,  and 
preventing  pooling  the  income  of  parallel  lines,  passed 
both  Houses  of  Congress  in  January,  1887,  and  was  approved 
by  the  President  on  the  4th  of  the  following  February.    A 
treaty  of  reciprocity  was  also  passed  with  the  Hawaiian 
government  bearing  date  of  February  28, 1891. 

4.  Advised  a  Revision  of  the  Tariff. — In  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's annual   message  before  the  Congress  of    1888  he 
advised  a  revision  of  the  tariff  and  a  reduction  of  its  rates 
as  a  pressing  necessity  to  prevent  too  great  an  accumula- 
tion of  gold  in  the  treasury,  as  he   claimed  inconsistent 
with  the  interests  of  the  country.* 

5.  The    Democratic    Convention.  —  Mr.    Elaine,    the 
acknowledged    representative  of    the    Republican    party, 
promptly  took  issue  with  him  on  this  policy.    The  Demo- 
cratic convention   to    nominate    candidates    for  the  next 
presidential  term,  met  at  St.  Louis  June  6, 1888.    It  en- 
dorsed the  administration  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  including  his 
tariff  message,  and  without  a  dissenting  voice  nominated 
him  as  their  choice  of  candidates  for  the  next  term,  and 
Allen  G.  Thurman  for  Vice-President. 

6.  The  Republican  Convention. — The  Republican  con- 
vention to  nominate  candidates  met  at  Chicago,  June  19, 
1888.     In  its  platform  it  recommended  a  reduction  of  letter 
postage    to    one    cent    per    ounce,  but  its  most  important 
demand  was  protection  for  manufacturers  by  high  tariff, 
although  on  some  articles  of  popular^  consumption  a  reduc- 
tion of  rates  was  proposed.     Benjamin  Harrison  was  nomi- 
nated as  candidate  for  President,  and  Levi  P.  Morton  for 
Vrice-President. 

7.  The  Prohibition  Convention. — The  Prohibition  con- 
vention    met    at    Indianapolis,  May  30, 1888.    Besides  the 
mam  purpose  of  this  party  to  suppress  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  alcoholic  liquors  for  beverages,  it  advocated  female 
suffrage  as  a  state  policy.    Bowen  Fisk  was  nominated  foi 
President  and  John  A.  Brooks  for  Vice-President. 

8.  Harrison  and  Morton  Inaugurated. — The  vote  of  the 

*  One  of  the  last  official  acts  of  President  Cleveland  in  this  ad- 
ministration was  the  signing  of  the  bill  admitting  North  Dakota, 
South  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Washington  as  states,  by  which  act  they 
became  states  in  November,  1889. 


TWENTY-SIXTH   ADMINISTRATION. 


385 


electoral  college  which  met  in  February,  1889,  was  for  Har- 
rison and  Morton,  233 ;  for  Cleveland  and  Thurman,  168.  The 
Republican  popular  vote  was  5,440,748,  the  Democratic 
popular  vote  was  5,536,242. 

Harrison  and  Morton  were  inaugurated  March  4, 1889. 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON, 

Born  at  North  Bend,  Hamilton  County,  Ohio, 

August  20,  1833. 
President  March  4,  iSSp-March  4,  1893. 

Twenty=sixth  Administration. 

i  Advantage  of  the  Republicans  in  the  Election  of 
Mr.  Harrison. — It  can  hardly  be  denied  that  the  prompti- 
tude with  which  Mr.  Blaine  took  issue  with  Mr.  Cleveland 
no  the  tariff  question  was  used  g^aUy  to  the  advantage  ot 


386  TWENTY-SIXTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

the  Republicans  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Harrison.  The  tariff 
policy  had  not  been  fully  denned  by  the  Republicans,  nor 
had  any  representative  views  of  either  party  defined  such 
a  policy  till  Mr.  Cleveland  did  so  in  his  message  of  1888, 
and  Mr.  Elaine  was  the  first  demonstrative  man  in  the  Re- 
publican party  to  accept  the  issue  that.  Mr.  Cleveland's 
message  had  irrevocably  canonized  as  a  test  of  Democratic 
faith,  to  overthrow  which  the  sequel  proved  to  be  an  easy 
task  by  appealing  to  the  interests  of  the  labor  element 


THE  HON.  ROGER  Q.  MILLS,  of  Texas, 
Chosen  U.  S.  Senator  in  1892. 

throughout  the  country,  and  asking  it  to  vote  for  the  advo- 
cate of  a  tariff  on  the  ground  that  it  would  secure  high 
wages  for  furnishing  a  home  market  for  articles  of  Ameri- 
can manufacture. 

2.  The  McKinley  Tariff. — Consistent  with  this,  plans 
were  laid  to  frame  a  new  tariff  bill  raising  the  duties  on 
nearly  every  article  of  American  manufacture,  which  bill 


TWENTY-SIXTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


387 


was  popularly  known  as  the  McKinley  Tariff.  After  much 
canvassing  on  the  part  of  the  Republicans  among  the  vari- 
ous manufacturing  interests  of  the  country  to  bring  to  light 
such  facts  and  statistics  as  in  the  opinion  of  friends  of  the 
bill  the  best  good  of  the  employer  and  the  employee  re- 
quired, rates  were  established  on  almost  every  article  of 


EX-GOV.  OGLESBY,  OF  ILLINOIS. 

manufacture.  The  bill  became  a  law  after  passing  both 
Houses,  and  being  duly  signed  by  the  President,  taking 
effect  October  6, 1890.  It  was  a  partisan  measure  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  any  of  the  versatile  methods  known  to  local  or 


388 


TWENTY-SIXTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


clannish  Interests  sometimes  thrust  into  the  area  of  parti- 
sanship, though  Mr.  Randall,  a  Democrat,  but  not  of  the 
stalwart  brand,  lent  his  influence  in  favor  of  the  bill. 

3.  The  Contesting  Cities  for  the  Location  of  the  World's 
Fair.  —  The  fourth  century  was  now  near  at  hand,  whose 
close  marked  the  eventful  date  of  the  discovery  of  the  New 
World  by  Columbus.  Plans  had  been  laid  for  a  fitting  cele- 


HENRY  WATTERSON. 


bration  of  this  wondrous  episode,  and  where  should  this 
take  place?  The  contesting  cities  for  the  location  of  the 
World's  Fair  were  Chicago,  New  York,  Washington  and 
St.  Louis.  Each  of  the  cities  were  represented  by  commit- 
tees and  all  made  a  strong  and  determined  effort  to  win  the 
prize.  The  matter  was  decided  when  the  vote  was  takeo 


TWENTY-SIXTH  ADMINISTRATION-  389 

On  the  insertion  of  the  name  of  the  city  in  the  bill  authoriz- 
ing the  Fair.  The  contest  was  confined  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  the  Senate  being  willing  to  accept  any  lo- 
cation chosen  by  the  House. 

4.  The  Vote  for  the  Various  Cities. — Upon  location 
the  vote  stood  for  the  various  cities  as  follows: 

Ballots.  Chicago.       New  York.    Washington.    St.  Louis. 

First  vote 115               72  66  61 

Second  vote 121               83  46  59 

Third  vote 127              92  34  53 

Fourth  vote 134  95  29  48 

Fifth  vote 140  110  24  38 

Sixth  vote 149  116  19  28 

Seventh  vote 155  112  17  27 

Eighth  vote 157  107  18  25 

Total  vote,  307 ;  necessary  for  choice,  154  on  the  last  ballots. 

5.  Idaho  and  Wyoming  were  Admitted  as  States. — 
Idaho  and  Wyoming  were  admitted  as  states  and  the  new 
territory  of  Oklahoma  created.     During  the  administration 
an  appropriation  of  $500,000  was  made  wherewith  to  begin 
the  construction^  of  the  ^Hennepin  canal,  to  connect  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  river  at  the  mouth  of  Rock  river 
to  those  of  the  Illinois  river  near  Hennepin. 

6.  The  Pan  American  Confederation. — The  Pan  Amer- 
ican   Confederation    convened   at  Washington,  of  which 
James  G.  Elaine  was  president,  and  a  cordial  feeling  of 
national  comity  of  interests  was  a  general  result,  but  many 
of  the  special  things  aimed  at  were  not  secured  because 
none  of  them  seemed  to  favor  the  interests  of  each  and 
every    nation    represented.      Nothing    short    of    separate 
treaty  with  each  could  do  this. 

7.  The    Exciting  Question. — The   exciting    questions 
before  this   administration  created  unusual  interest,  not 
only  as  to  party,  but  what  men  in  that  party  should  fulfil 
its  requirements. 

8.  The  Republican  Convention. — The  Republican  con- 
vention to  nominate  their  candidate  met  at  Minneapolis 
June/7,  1892.  ^  There  were  three  candidates  in  the  field  — 
Harrison,  Blaine  and  McKinley — but  the  real  contest  was  be- 
tween the  first  two.  Harrison  was  chosen  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, and  Whitelaw  Reid  candidate  for  Vice-President,  by  a 
decisive  majority,  after  a  great  display  of  prestige  to  create 
favorable  impressions  toward  each  respective  candidate. 

9.  A  Platform  Friendly  to  the  Protection  Policy.— A  plat- 
form was  adopted  friendly  to  the  protection  policy,  which  the 
party  had  advocated  with  success  in  the  previous  canvass. 


890 


TWENTY-SIXTH    ADMINISTRATION. 


WHITELAW  REID,  Candidate  for  Vice-President,  1892. 

10.  The    Democratic    Convention. — The    Democratic 
convention  met  at  Chicago  June  21,  1892.     The  contestant; 
for  nomination  were  Cleveland,  Hill,  and  Governor  Bois,  of 
Iowa.     Mr..  Cleveland  received  the  nomination  for  Presi- 
dent by  a  large  majority,  and  Adlai  E.  Stephenson  for  Vice- 
President. 

11.  The  Platform  Adopted. — In  the  platform  adopted 
there  was  no  letting  down  as  to  the  policy  reducing  the 
tariff,  and  the  policy  of  civil  service  reform  was  advocated. 

12.  The    Peoples    Party    Convention.— The    Peoples 
party  held  their  convention  at  Omaha.    James  B.  Weaver 
was  nominated  as  candidate  for  President  and  James  G 
Field  for  Vice-President. 

Its  platform  demanded  a  national  currency  to  be  issued 
by  the  government. 

13.  The  Prohibition  Convention. — The  Prohibition  con- 
vention met  at  Cincinnati  June  29,  John  Bidwell,  of  Cali- 
fornia,   was    nominated  as  candidate  for   President  and 
Gideon  L.  Stewart  for  Vice-President. 


TWENTY-SIXTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


391 


J.  B.  WEAVER, 
Candidate  for  President — Peoples  Party. 


THE  HON.  ROBERT  LINCOLN,  of  Illinois. 

36 


392  TWENTY-SEVENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 

14.    Votes  of  the  Electoral  College  February  8, 1893.— 

Grover  Cleveland,  277,  President;  Adlai  E.  Stephenson,  277, 
Vice-President;  Benjamin  Harrison,  145,  President;  White- 
law  Reid,  145,  Vice-President;  James  B.  Weaver,  22,  Presi- 
dent; James  G.  Field,  22,  Vice-President.  Cleveland  and 
Stevenson  were  inaugurated  March  4, 1893. 


RICHARD  OLNEY, 
Attorney  General  under  Cleveland. 

The  Political  Events  and  Issues  of  the 
Twenty =Seventh  Administration. 

i.  The  Election  of  Mr.  Cleveland  an  Unexpected  Sur- 
prise.—The  election  of  Mr.  Cleveland  was  an  unexpected 
surprise  to  the  Republicans  and  his  first  acts  soon  gave 
them  an  opportunity  to  criticise  his  policy. 

'2.  The  Hawaiian  Issue.— Among  the  last  official  acts 
of  President  Harrison  was  his  friendly  recognition  of  the 
revolutionary«government  of  Hawaii.  This  was  overruled 
by  Mr.  Cleveland,  be  not  receiving  its  accredited  minister 
For  this  he  was  severely  censured  by  the  entire  Republican 
party,  nor  did  he  escape  condemnation  from  some  Demo- 
cratic sources.  But  the  great  question  of  the  tariff  reduc- 
tion and  the  currency  was  destined  soon  to  subpr4ioate  all 
other  issues  to  its  earnest  attention. 


TWENTY-SEVENTH   ADMINISTRATION 


393 


THE  HON.  JOHN  SHERMAN,  of  Ohio. 

3.  The  Monetary  Question. — Foremost  among  the  topics 
attracting  the  world's  attention  during  the  early  days  of  this 
administration  is  that  of  finance.  The  lack  of  confidence 
and  the  general  depression  in  the  business  world,  the  de- 
pletion in  the  stock  of  gold  in  reserve,  financial  failures,  and 
the  stringency  of  the  money  market,  caused  President 
Cleveland  to  assemble  Congress  in  extra  session  Aug.  7,  "to 
the  end  that  the  people  may  be  relieved  through  legislation 
from  present  and  impending  danger  and  distress." 

4.  The  Sherman  Act. — Among  the  laws  considered  un- 
wise by  the  President  was  the  Sherman  silver  purchase  act 
of  1890.  This  act,  after  a  stubborn  fight  in  the  Senate,  was 
repealed  October  30,  1893,  and  was  at  once  signed  by  the 
President. 


394 


TWENTY-SEVENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 


THE  HON.  CHAS.  F.  CRISP,  of  Georgia, 
Speaker  of  House,  52d  and  53d  Congress. 

5.  The  Most  Stubbornly  Fought  Battle.  —  Probably 
the  most  stubbornly  fought  battle  ever  carried  on  by  our 
lawmakers  in  Congress  preceded  the  passage  of  the  new 
tariff  law,  which  went  into  effect  on  the  26th  of  August,  1894. 
For  the  first  time  in  a  generation  the  Democratic  party 
found  itself  practically  in  control  of  every  branch  of  the 
government  on  the  4th  of  March,  1893.  The  political  cam- 
paign of  the  preceding  year  had  been  contested  on  the 
tariff  issue.  The  Democratic  platform  of  1892  was  pro* 
nounced  in  its  opposition  to  the  high  protective  system  then 
in  operation,  while  the  Republican  platform  was  as  positive 
in  its  declarations  favoring  the  protective  policy  of  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Harrison.  Both  the  popular  and 
electoral  vote  of  the  country  was  largely  on  the  side  of  a 
change  in  the  tariff  policy  of  the  country. 


TWENTY-SEVENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 


395 


THE  HON.  DANIEL  LAMONT, 
Secretary  of  War,  1893-1897. 

6.  The  Regular  Session  of  Congress. — The  regular 
session  of  Congress  opened  on  the  first  Monday  in  Decem- 
ber, 1893,  but  it  was  not  until  January  8  that  the  bill  was 
introduced  into  the  House.  The  introduction  of  the  bill 
raised  a  storm  of  disapproval  against  it,  a  large  proportion 
of  which  came  from  the  Republicans,  but  its  provisions  for 
free  wool,  coal,  lumber,  sugar  and  iron  ore  caused  violent 
opposition  from  Democrats  representing  states  where  those 
interests  were  likely  to  be  seriously  affected.  In  the  whole 
history  of  the  government  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any 
previous  attempt  at  tariff  reform  had  been  so  radical  as 
was  to  be  accomplished  by  the  Wilson  bill,  for  it  proposed, 
within  the  space  of  one  year,  to  abolish  about  38  per  cent, 
of  the  duties  then  being  paid  upon  imports,  besides  carry- 
ing to  the  free  list  manufactures  and  farm  products  which 
paid  from  50  to  60  per  cent,  duties. 
The  bill,  however,  passed  the  House  by  a  vote  of  204  to 


TWENTY-SEVENTH  ADMINISTRATION. 


CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW, 
The  silver  tongued  orator. 


140,  an  d  went  to  the  Senate  February  2,  1894,  where  it  was 
confronted  by  a  condition  of  things  wholly  unlike  that  which 
existed  in  the  house.  The  Democratic  strength  in  the  Sen- 
ate  was  exactly  44,  one  more  than  a  majority,  there  being 
three  vacancies.  The  Republicans  numbered  37,  and  the 
Populists  4,  whose  sympathies  were  equally  divided  be- 
tween the  Democrats  and  Republicans.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances it  became  absolutely  essential  for  the  Democrats 
to  command  every  vote  in  their  own  party  to  carry"  any 
measure  they  might  present,  while  it  was  apparent  that 
the  Democrats  in  the  Senate  were  more  strongly  inclined 
than  those  in  the  House  to  a  moderate  degree  of  protection 
7.  The  General  Debate  in  the  Senate.— The  general 
lebate  began  in  the  Senate  on  the  2d  of  April  and  closecf 


TWENTY-SEVENTH  ADMINISTRATION.  397 

6n  the  24th,  after  which  the  bill  was  considered  by  para- 
graph, until  the  3d  of  July,  when  the  final  vote  was  taken. 
Thus,  after  five  months  of  consideration  and  debate  the 
bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  39  to  34.  The  affirma- 
tive vote  was  cast  by  37  Democrats  and  2  Populists  (Kyle, 
of  South  Dakota,  and  Allen,  of  Nebraska),  while  the  negative 
vote  was  made  up  of  31  Republicans,  2  Populists,  Peffer,  of 
Kansas,  and  Stewart,  of  Nevada),  and  one  Democrat  (Mr. 
Hill,  of  New  York),  who  opposed  the  measure  on  account  of 
its  income  tax  feature. 

The  bill  then  went  to  the  conference  committee  of  the 
two  Houses,  and  the  result  was  as  was  generally  ex- 
pected. 

8.  The  Deadlock. — The  deadlock  continued,  but  party 
harmony  had  given  way  to  pride  of  opinion  and  personal 
feeling.     Proposals  of  compromise  were  made  and  rejected 
and  bitterness  of  feeling  grew  more  intense  each  day.    A 
caucus  was  held  in  the  House  at  the  suggestion  of  some 
who  were  willing  to  yield  to  the  Senate,  but  nothing  was 
accomplished.    Another  caucus  of  the  House  was  held  on 
August  13,  the  House  ending  the  struggle  by  accepting  the 
Senate  bill  in  its  entirety  in  place  of  the  Wilson  bill.    The 
bill  passed  the  House  and  was  sent  to  the  President  on 
August  15  and  became  a  law  without  his  approval, 

9.  Why  the  President  Did  Not  Sign  the  Bill.— The 
reason  why  the  President  did  not  sign  the  bill  was  becauso 
he  did  not  wish  to  go  on  record  as  approving  it  with  the 
amendments  that  had  divested  it  of  its  most  radical  reduc- 
tion in  tariff  rates. 

10.  Utah  Admitted.— Utah  was  admitted  as  a  state  by 
the  LIII.  Congress,  and  became  a  state  in  1896. 

11.  Last  Session. — The  last  session  of  the  LIII.  Con- 
gress was  fruitless  of  import,  owing  to  the  want  of  harmony 
on  financial  questions.    Several  important  measures  were 
proposed,  but  were  defeated  by  the  majority. 

12.  LIV.  Congress.— The  first  session  of  the  LIV.  Con- 
gress was  very  brief  and  uneventful.     It  did   very  little  of 
importance,  chiefly  because  it  was  working  too  much  at 
cross-purposes  with  itself  and  with  the  President  to  do  much 
of  anything.    Out  of  9,500  bills  in  the  lower  House,  and 
3,250  in  the  upper  House  (an  average  of  27  bills  to  each 
member  in  the  lower  and  36  in  the  upper),  but  250  were 
passed  and  signed  by  the  President.    Of  these,  the  most 
important  were  the  appropriation  bills,  the  appointment  of 
the  Venezuelan  boundary  commission,  the  suppression  of 
prize  fighting  in  the  territories,  removal  of  the  disability  of 
Confederate  officers  for  the  holding  of  appointments  in  the 

26 


398  TWENTY-SEVENTH   ADMINISTRATION. 

army  and  navy,  and  the  requirement  of  one  year's  residence 
in  a  territory  before  securing  a  divorce.  The  House  passed 
a  bill  revising  the  tariff  and  the  Senate  put  a  free-silver 
clause  to  it,  and  said  "  Give  us  this  or  give  us  nothing."  Both 
Houses  rolled  up  a  big  river  and  harbor  bill,  appropriating 
$80,000,000  in  the  next  six  years,  and  when  the  President 
vetoed  it,  both  Houses  united  to  override  the  veto.  No  re- 
lief, therefore,  has  come  to  the  Treasury.  The  Senate  tried 
to  put  a  stop  to  the  issue  of  bonds  to  keep  up  the  gold  re- 
serve, and  the  House  blocked  that  game.  Though  the  Re- 
publicans had  a  big  majority  in  the  House,  and  a  nominal 
one  in  the  Senate,  the  two  houses  were  about  as  much  at 
outs  with  each  other  as  both  were  with  the  President. 

13.  Foreign  Affairs. — Mr.  Cleveland  began  his  second 
term  as  President  by  preventing  the  consummation  of  a  treaty 
making  the  United  States  the  protector  of  the  new  "  republic  " 
Hawaii  either  as  a  territory  or  state,  or  as  a  county,  of  Cali- 
fornia. The  treaty  was  an  official  response  to  Minister 
Steven's  land-grabbing  dispatch  that  "  the  Hawaiian  pear 
is  now  fully  ripe,  and  this  is  the  golden  hour  for  the  United 
States  to  pluck  it."  Mr.  Cleveland  did  not  believe  either 
in  the  establishment  of  a  protectorate  or  in  annexation,  and 
therefore  he  withdrew  the  treaty.  He  believed  that  the 
revolutionists  had  been  aided  by  the  American  minister  and 
American  marines,  and  that  the  United  States  ought  to  undo 
its  wrong  and  make  reparation.  His  solution  of  the  Hawaiian 
problem  saved  this  country  from  deep  disgrace,  and  from 
the  commission  of  a  crime,  to  the  like  of  which,  according 
to  our  jingo  friends,  England,  is  so  prone  that  a  general 
arbitration  treaty  with  her  wo*ld  be  of  doubtful  morality. 

The  President's  message  on  the  Venezuela  boundary 
dispute,  and  his  subsequent  action  in  the  matter,  have  been 
elsewhere  explained.  Also,  elsewhere  in  this  work  may  be 
found  the  resulting  arbitration  treaty,  which  Mr.  Olney, 
by  the  exercise  of  his  diplomatic  ability,  succeeded  in  per- 
suading Lord.  Salisbury  to  sign  in  a  broader  form  than  the 
British  premier  at  first  approved. 

There  is  a  certain  quality  or  tone  in  Mr.  Cleveland's 
administration  of  foreign  relations  that  has  been  gratifying 
to  Americans.  It  has  been  thoroughly  American  and  dig- 
nified. And  even  those  who  have  disagreed  with  him  in 
regard  to  some  of  his  conservative  policies  must  realize 
that  the  United  States  stands  better  before  the  world  by 
reason  of  what  he  has  done  in  respect  to  foreign  affairs 
in  regard  to  Hawaii  and  Venezuela.  Even  the  most  enthu- 
siastic and  hot-headed  friends  of  Cuba  may,  in  time,  be  con- 
vinced that  conservatism  has  better  accomplished  their 
hopes  than  precipitate  action  would  have  done. 


TWENTY-SEVENTH   ADMINISTRATION.  399 

14.  Civil  Service  Reform. — It  was  essentially  in  Mr. 
Cleveland's  nature  that  lie  should  advance  the  cause  of  civil 
service  reform.  To  him  a  public  servant  has  but  one  allegi- 
ance and  but  one  duty.  His  master  is  the  public,  and  all  his 
service  is  due  to  that  master.  Public  place  is  for  public 
service.  That  is  his  own  ideal,  and  that,  to  him,  is  the  stand- 
ard for  all  in  the  public  employment.  When  he  first  went 
to  Washington  he  knew  very  little  of  the  methods  for 
reform  which  had  been  agreed  upon,  but  it  was  only  neces- 
sary to  show  him  clearly  the  fnndamental  evil  of  the  spoils 
system  to  make  him  its  bitter  and  determined  enemy. 
When  he  first  became  President  there  were  about  15,000 
classified  places  in  the  civil  service.  At  the  end  of  his 
second  term  there  are  87,107  classified  places,  Mr.  Harrison 
having  added  8000.  The  merit  system  is  in  its  present  ex- 
cellent condition  mainly  by  reason  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  efforts, 
and  if  Mr.  McKinley  will  sustain  the  system  for  appoint- 
ments and  promotions  in  the  consular  service  established 
since  Mr.  Olney  became  Secretary  of  State,  and  will  include 
the  fourth-class  post  offices  in  the  classified  services,  civil 
service  reform  will  be  accomplished  so  far  as  the  extent  of 
its  jurisdiction  is  concerned. 

This  is  not  a  complete  record  of  President  Cleveland's 
services  to  the  country ;  it  is  merely  a  statement  of  the 
larger  benefits  that  have  been  gained  through  his  official  acts. 

In  the  larger  questions  that  have  come  to  him,  he  ha:* 
comprehended  the  right  way,  and  has  had  the  courage  to 
walk  in  it  despite  the  opposition  and  criticism  of  the  poli- 
ticians of  his  own  party.  Whatever  one  may  think  of  his 
personality  or  of  his  party  leadership,  his  stern  fidelity  and 
unselfish  and  intelligent  devotion  as  a  public  servant  make 
his  two  adminstrations  illustrious. 


Rhymed  History  of  the  Adminis- 
trations. 

The  following  rhymed  history  is  noted  for  the  valuable 
information  it  gives  in  compact  form.  The  author  is 
unknown.  Every  young  American  ought  to  commit  it  to 
memory. 

First  Washington  we  proudly  name, 

The  founder  of  his  country's  fame; 

Then  Adams,  ere  his  rule  was  done, 

The  government  graced  Washington 
\nd  Jefferson,  in  whom  we  see 
Republican  simplicity. 


400      RHYMED   HISTORY   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATIONS. 

Next  Madison,  disturbed  by  jars 
With  Indian  tribes  and  British  Wars; 

And  Monroe,  handed  down  to  fame 
By  doctrine  coupled  with  his  name  ; 

And  Adams,  second  of  his  line, 
Who  held  aloft  Protection's  sign. 

Then  Andrew  Jackson,  world  renowned. 
Deliverer  of  New  Orleans  crowned, 

Van  Buren  next,  whose  wise  regime, 
Saw  carriages  first  drawn  by  steam. 

And  Harrison,  or  "Tippecanoe," 
And  one  month  later,  Tyler,  too. 

Next  Polk  presides  o'er  our  domains, 
Vastly  increased  by  Western  gains  ; 

Then  Taylor,  with  whose  sad  demise 
Came  the  ''Missouri  compromise." 

And  Fillmore  following  in  his  train, 

Who  well  nigh  came  to  blows  with  Spain. 

Here  Pierce  made  treaty  with  Japan, 
From  those  fair  isles  removed  the  ban  ; 

Buchanan  witnessed  "John  Brown's  raid," 
And  North  and  South  in  arms  arrayed  ; 

The  martyr,  Lincoln,  lived  to  see 
The  Union  saved,  the  slaves  set  free. 

Next  Johnson,  reconciling  hates, 
Restored  the  reconstructed  states  ; 

And  Grant,  the  hero  of  the  hour, 

Was  twice  returned  to  highest  power, 

And  Hayes  beheld  increase  of  trade, 
Silver  a  legal  tender  made. 

Then  Garfield,  who  like  Lincoln  slain, 
Left  on  the  land  a  double  stain  ; 

And  Arthur,  with  a  "standard  time," 
And  Hooper's  feats  in  Arctic  clime, 

And  Cleveland,  who  with  turn  of  tide 

Gave  to  the  White  House  a  fair  young  bride 

Next  Harrison's  McKinley  Bill, 

Which  served  his  term  to  kill ; 
And  Cleveland's  battle  royal  with  Hill, 

And  broken  lance  for  poor  Queen  LU, 
And  just  before  his  term  was  done 

His  party  split  "sixteen  to  one.." 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Current  Problems  and  Topics. 

EDUCATION  AND  CRIME. 

I.     Percentage  of  Illiterate  Persons  and  Prisoners  in 

the  Different  States.— In  1890,  6,324,702,  or  13.3  per  cent,  of 
the  47,413,559  persons  in  the  United  States,  10  years  of  age 
or  over,  were  illiterate,  and  .17  per  cent.,  or  82,329,  were 
prisoners  in  penitentiaries,  jails,  etc.  In  the  north  Atlantic 
states  only  6.2  per  cent.,  or  859,989  persons  out  of  the  popu- 
lation of  13,888,377,  10  years  of  age  or  over,  were  illiterate, 
while  28,258,  or  .2  per  cent,  were  prisoners.  The  popula- 
tion of  the  south  Atlantic  states,  10  years  of  age  or  over, 
was  6,415,921,  of  whom  30.9  per  cent.,  or  1,961,888,  were 
illiterate,  and  only  .17  per  cent.,  or  11.409,  prisoners.  '1  he 
north  central  states  had  a  population  of  16,909,613,  10  years 
of  age  or  over,  of  whom  5.7  per  cent.,  or  964,268  were  illiter- 
ate, and  .12  per  cent.,  or  19,954,  prisoners.  The  south  cen- 
tral states,  with  a  population  of  7,799,487,  10  years  of  age  or 
over,  of  whom  29.7  per  cent.,  or  2  318,871,  were  illiterate,  had 
.2  per  cent.,  or  16,084  in  prison;  and  the  western  states, 
with  8.3  per -cent.,  or  199,686,  illiterate  in  a  population  of 
2,400,161  persons,  10  years  of  age  or  over,  had  .28  per  cent., 
or  6,724,  prisoners. 

2.  Prisoners.— Of  the  82,329  prisoners  in  1890,  34.3  pei 
cent,  were  confined  in  the  north  Atlantic  states,  13.9  per 
cent,  in  the  south  Atlantic,  24.1  per  cent,  in  the  north  cen- 
tral, 19.5  in  the  south  central,  and  8.2  in  the  western  states. 

Louisiana  shows  the  highest  percentage  of  illiteracy, 
45.8  and  1,608  prisoners,  or  .2  per  cent,  of  her  population. 
South  Carolina  follows  closely  in  percentage  of  illiteracy 
with  45  per  cent.,  and  has  1,184,  or  .14  per  cent,  of  her  pop- 
ulation prisoners.  New  Mexico  comes  next,  with  44.5  per 
cent,  of  illiterates  and  205  of  population,  or  .18  per  cent, 
prisoners;  then  Alabama,  41  per  cent,  illiterate  and  2,518, 
or  .23  per  cent,  prisoners;  Mississippi,  40  per  cent,  illiterate 
and  1,777,  or  .13  per  cent,  prisoners;  Georgia,  39.8  per  cent, 
illiterate  and  2,938,  or  .22  per  cent,  prisoners;  North  Carp- 
Jina,  35.7  per  cent,  illiterate  and  2,033,  or  .18  per  cent,  pris- 
oners, and  Virginia,  30.2  per  cent,  illiterate  and  2,000,  or  .17 
.per  cent,  prisoners. 

401 


402  EDUCATION  AND  CRIME. 

3.  Read  and  Write.— Of  the  82,329  prisoners  in  the 
United  States  June  1,  1890,  7,386,  or  8.97  per  cent,  were 
charged  with  homicide,  of  whom  61.73  per  cent,  could  both 
read  and  write,  4.84  per  cent,  could  only  read,  and  33.43  per 
cent,  could  do  neither.    Of  the  negroes  charged  with  homi- 
cide, more  than  one-half  could  neither  read  nor  write;  of  the 
Indians,  nearly  two-thirds. 

4.  Foreign  Born.— The  percentage  of   the    illiteracy 
among  the  foreign  horn  was  nearly  three  times  as  great  as 
among  the  native  whites.    Of  the  47,413,559  persons  in  the 
United  States  in  1890, 10  years  of  age  and  over,  6,324,702  v/ere 
illiterates.   Of  this  number  3,212,574  were  white  and  3,112,128 
colored,  2,065,003  native  white  and  1,147,571  foreign  white. 
Of  the  prisoners  confined  on  a  charge  of  homicide,  253,  or 
3.44  per  cent.,  had  received  higher  education. 

5.  The  Occupation. — The  occupation  of  6,546  prisoners 
prior  to  incarceration  was  ascertained,  of  whom  102  were 
classified  as  professional,  38  official,  1,893  agricultural,  29 
lumber,  212  mining,  19  fisheries,  173  trade  and  commerce, 
380  transportation,  1,086  manufactures  and  mechanical  in- 
dustries, 690  personal  service,  2,253  unskilled  labor  and  21 
miscellaneous.    The  number  employed  at  the  time  of  their 
arrest  was  5,659,  unemployed  1,22.5,  unknown  467. 

6.  Intoxicating  Liquors. — The  habits  of  the  prisoners 
in  respect  of  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  at  time  of  arrest,  as 
far  as  ascertained  were:  Total  abstainers,  1,282;  occasional 
or  moderate  drinkers,  3,829,  and  drunkards  1,267.    Nearly 
one-half  of  the  homicide  prisoners  were  unmarried.    The 
number  of  married  was  2,715;  unmarried,  3,615;  widowed 
703  and  divorced,  144. 

7.  Ignorance. — Ignorance  is  a  cause  of  crime,  neverthe- 
less 66.57  per  cent,  of  ull  prisoners  charged  with  homicide 
received  the  rudiments  of  an  education  in  English  of  their 
own  tongue,  and  3.44  per  cent,  received  a  higher  education. 
Ignorance  of  trade  is  a  cause  of  crime,  but  11.35  per  cent,  of 
the  prisoners  were  mechanics  or  apprentices  and  a  much 
larger  number  had  the  necessary  skill  to  follow  mechanical 
pursuits. 

8.  Intemperance. — Intemperance  and    idleness  are  no 
doubt  the  cause  of  more  crime  than  all  the  other  agencies  com- 
bined.   Very  few  criminals  there  are  who  cannot  trace  their 
first  crime  to  an  idle  hour  or  to  some  sparkling  glass.    The 
hot  beds  of  crime  are  found  in  the  cities  in  those  low  dives 
where   morality  and   temperance    are  never  thought  of. 
Intemperance  is  the  curse  of  mankind  and  if  the  saloon  and 
intemperance  could  be  eradicated  nine-tenths  of  our  jails  and 
penitentiaries  would  be  without  inmates. 


PRISON  LABOR  AND  PRISON  REFORMS.  403 

Prison  Labor  and  Prison  Reforms* 

I-  Convict  Labor. — As  in  this  country,  prison  labor  has 
been  the  subject  of  much  discussion  abroad.  The  labor 
system  is  the  weak  side  of  the  otherwise  strong  system  in 
England.  This  is  seen  in  the  use  of  the  fly  wheel.  Prison- 
ers sentenced  to  hard  labor  may  fulfill  the  sentence  by 
turning  the  crank  of  a  fly  wheel  so  many  thousand  revolu- 
tions registered  on  an  indicator.  No  prison  official  of  the 
present  day  favors  this  plan.  It  cannot  be  called  thrifiy 
for  the  prisoner  or  for  the  prison.  Nearly  every  applica- 
tion of  labor  for  productive  purposes  in  England  is  in 
making  articles  for  the  government.  Everything  used 
in  the  army  and  navy,  in  the  post  office,  and  other  de- 
partments, that  can  be  made  in  prison,  is  made  there. 
Hand  labor  is  chiefly  used,  but  this  work  is  of  but  little  use 
in  educating  the  prisoner  for  outside  labor. 

2.  English  Labor  Agitators. — It  is  strange  that  English 
labor  agitators,  so  generally  intelligent  in  regard  to  indus- 
trial and  economic  questions,  are  so  easily  deluded  into  the 
belief  that  prisoners  who  labor  for  the  government  are  re- 
movedfromthearenaof  competition.  The  indifference  to  pro- 
ductive labor  in  Englandmakesthe  system  an  expensive  one. 

3.  The  Right  Principle. — On  the  other  hand  there  is  no 
greater  fallacy  than  that  which  assumes  that  the  prison 
which  pays  all  expenses  is  the  best  one  or  the  cheapest.  In 
some  of  our  states  the  determination  of  legislators  that 
prisons  shall  be  self-supporting  has  been  a  barrier  to  reform. 
The  prison  is  cheapest  financially,  as  well  as  best  ethically, 
which  succeeds  in  reforming  the  largest  number  of  prisoners. 

4.  Extreme  Severity  or  Brutality. — Nothing  is  clearer 
to  penologists  there  and  here  than  that  extreme  severity  or 
brutality  of  any  sort  does  not  produce  the  best  results.    A 
prison  discipline  may  be  strict,  exacting,  uniform,  and  at 
the  same  time  stimulating  and  humane.  Nowhere  in  Europe 
is  found  a  discipline  so  thorough  and  one  which  at  the 
same  time  furnishes  so  many  incentives  to  the  prisoner, 
as  in  the  Elmira  Reformatory  of  New  York.     It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  the  managers  of  every  reformatory  regard 
this  as  a  model. 

5.  Commutation  of  Sentences. — In  England  and  on  the 
continent  the  method  of  commutation  of  sentences  has  been 
generally  adopted;  that  is,  a  sentence  for  a  definite  number 
of  years  is  reduced  according  to  a  certain  scale  by  the  good 
behavior  of  the  prisoner.    This  system  is  in  vogue  in  a 
number  of  our  own  states.    As  to  a  system  of  probation 
there  is  nothing  equal  to  that  ip   use  in   Massachusetts! 


PRISON  LABOR  AND  PRISON  REFORMS.  405 

where  a  large  number  of  first  offenders  are  released  on  pro- 
bation and  officers  are  appointed  in  every  county  to  ex- 
amine  and  take  charge  of  such  cases. 

6.  Capital  Punishment. — In  regard  to   capital  punish- 
ment it  is  interesting  to  note  that  while  the  death  penalty, 
is  in  force  in  all  but  three  of  our  states,  and  in  some  of 
them  not  only  for  murder,  but  for  arson,  mayhem,  rape  and 
burglary,  it  has  been  stricken  from  the  codes  of  several  Eu- 
ropean countries.     Capital  punishment  for  ordinary  homi- 
cides   has    been   abolished    in    Russia    for    more  than   a 
century,  although  it  is  still  the  punishment  of  treason.     In 
1874  it  was  abolished  in  Switzerland;  permission  to  restore 
it  was  given  to  the  cantons  in  1879,  but  up  to  1£90  no  canton 
had  availed  itself  of  the  permission.     Holland    abolished 
the  death  penalty  in  1870,  Italy  in  1889,  Portugal  in  1867, 
Facts  collected  by  Mr.  William  Tallack,  of  the  Howard  As- 
sociation of   London,  show  that  in  most  of  those  countries 
capital  punishment  had  long  ceased  to  exist  before  it  was 
abolished.    The  general  testimony  is  that  there  has  been 
no  increase  of  murders  in  any  of  these  countries  since  such 
abolition. 

7.  Death  Penalty. — Again  it  appears  that  in  countries 
where  the  death  penalty  exists  the  number  of  executions 
for  murder  is  very  small.     In  Austria  the  average  is  4  per 
cent,  on  convictions;   in    Prussia  less  than  8   per  cent.;  in 
Sweden,  Norway  and  Denmark  there  is  one  execution  in 
every  twenty  sentences  for  murder.     In   England,  out    of 
672  committed  for  wilful  murder,  299  were  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  death,  while  373  were  either  acquitted  or  found 
insane;  of  the  299  condemned  to  death,  145,  nearly  one- 
half,  had  their  sentences  commuted. 

8.  Suggested  Reforms.— As  a  result  of  this  compara- 
tive  study,  the    penological    reforms    and    improvements 
which  seem  to  be  needed  in  this  country,  are  the  improve- 
ment of  jails;  the  abolition  of  the  lease  system;  the  exten- 
sion of  the  reformatory  plan;  the  adoption  of  the  indetermin- 
ate sentence  with  the  parole  system;  the  extension  of  the 
probation    system    both    for   youths    and     adults,    as    in 
Massachusetts;  work  for  prisoners  committed    to    jail   on 
short  sentences;  a    higher    grade    of    prison    officers;  the 
abolition  of  the  spoils  system  in  relation  to  prison  manage- 
ment; an  allowance  to  prisoners  of  a  portion  of   their  earn- 
ings, and  its  application  to  the  needs  of  their  families;  the 
extension    of    manual    education    and    industrial    schools 
among  preventive  measures,  and  the  organization  of  socie- 
ties for  aiding  discharged  convicts,  mainly  in  the  direction 
of  procuring  them  employment. 


406      DIFFERENT  METHODS  OF  CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT. 


Hanging  for  Mutiny. 


The  Different  Methods  of  Capital 
Punishment. 

i.  Rights  of  the  Many. — The  rights  of  the  many 
against  the  criminal  has  been  held  from  the  earliest  times 
to  the  present,  and  it  has  been  the  basis  of  this  general  idea 
that  capital  punishment  finds  its  place  in  the  jurisprudence 
of  every  time  and  of  every  nation.  "An  eye  for  an  eye,  a 
tooth  for  a  tooth;  yea,  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for 
his  life,"  is  the  formulated  statement  that  makes  the  execu- 
tion of  a  fellow-man  a  possibUitv  in  a  civilized  country. 


DIFFERENT  METHODS  OF  CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT.      407 

2.  Methods  of  Taking  Life. — When  once    primitive- 
.nan  had  decided  in  his  own  mind  that  justice  demanded  a 
life  for  a  life,  he  apparently  exercised  his  ingenuity  in  de- 
vising methods  to  make  the  life-taking  process  as  hideous 
and  painful  as  h.e  possibly  could.    The  Cambodian  stood  with 
sword  in  hand  and  with  several  strokes  cleft  his  victim  in 
twain.  Dr.  Guillotin  gave  to  the  instrument  which  he  devised 
a  name  which  is  a  part  of  the  language.      The  Prussian, 
with  the  directness  which  characterizes  the  Teuton,  simply 
beheaded  his  victim  with  an  ax,  while  the  more  resourceful 
mind  of  the  Hindoo  laid  his  victim  in  the  street  to  wait  the 
slow  tread  of  the  elephant  whose  lumbering  hoofs  were  to 
crush  from  his  body  the  vital  breath.     In  Armenia  the  swift, 
bright  blade  of  the  razor  gleamed  as  the  last  sight  that 
greeted  the  eyes  of  the  doomed.    The  modern  view  of  cap- 
ital punishment  has  a  two-fold  object:  First,  to  deprive  the 
dangerous  man  of  a  life  that  might  again  find  itself  bent  on 
mischief;  then  to  warn  those  whose  tendencies  are  similar 
that  their  end  would  be  the  end  of  disgrace.  It  was  because 
of  the  deterrent  effect  that  is  supposed  to  reside  in  the  tak- 
ing of  life  that  Moses  tabulated  his  series  of  punishments  by 
death. 

3.  The  Draconian  System. — Under  the  Draconian  sys- 
tem the  lightest  crimes  were  held  so  heinous  that  the  pen- 
alty of  death  ran  almost  through  the  entire  gamut.      But 
this  was  subsequently  so  modified  through  the  one  adopted 
by  the  Athenian  law  that  men  were  not  only  not  deterred 
and  prevented  from  committing  crime,  but  exile  for  life 
was  a  commutation  easily  secured.     In  more  modern  times 
in  England,  after  capital  punishment  was  an  accepted  fact 
and  a  public  exhibition,  horse  stealing,  cattle  stealing,  steal- 
ing from  houses  and  forgery  in  general  were  capital  offenses. 
From    these    crimes    down   to  the  picking  of  pockets  no 
wrongdoer  was  exempt  from  death.      The  list  would  be 
tedious  to  enumerate,  but  suffice  it  to  say  that  one  hundred 
and  sixty  forms  of  violation  of  the  law  were  punished  by 
the  execution  of  the  individual. 

4.  Horrors  of  Persecution  in  Massachusetts. — In  our 
own  country,  in  1650,  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  the  list 
had  diminished  until  it  contained  only  idolatry,  witchcraft, 
blasphemy,  murder,  manslaughter,  poisoning,  stealing,  false 
witness,   treason,  cursing  and  smiting  of  parents,  rebellious 
sons,  Quakers  and   Jesuits  returning  after  banishment;  and 
in  the  year  1790  this  list  had  been  reduced  to  treason,  mur- 
der, burglary  and  arson. 

5.  Different  Methods. — The  modes  by  which  the  pun- 
ishment is  inflicted  vary  in  every  country,  from  the  prim- 


408     DIFFERENT  METHODS  OF  CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT. 

itive  method  of  beating  the  subject  with  clubs  until  life  is 
extinct  up  to  the  application  of  the  swift  messenger  elec- 
tricity, that  does  its  work  almost  as  quickly  and  subtly  as 
human  thought.  The  killing  of  a  victim  by  beating  to  death 
is  the  legal  mode  among  the  Hottentots,  and  the  scene 
which  precedes  execution  is  almost  impossible  to  imagine. 
The  criminal  is  seized  and  placed  in  a  circle  composed  of 
the  leading  men  of  his  tribe.  His  sentence  determined 
upon,  the  chief  strikes  the  first  blow,  and  thereafter  his 
judges  rain  upon  him  a  succession  of  strokes  that  cease 
only  when  the  bruised  and  mangled  victim  falls  to  the 
ground  exhausted.  More  skillfully  barbarous,  but  by  no 
means  as  brutal,  was  the  punishment  of  boiling  the  victim 
to  death.  This  was  imposed  during  the  reign  of  bluff  King 
Hal,  without  benefit  of  clergy,  upon  prisoners.  Those  con- 
demned to  this  mode  of  punishment  were  subjected  to  the 
process  in  boiling  water,  oil,  molten  lead,  and  sulphur.  An- 
other scarcely  less  humane  mode  of  depriving  a  human 
being  of  life  is  that  of  blowing  the  condemned  from  a 
cannon,  a  subject  that  has  been  made  painfully  realistic  by. 
Vereschagin's  great  picture. 

6.  Burning. — Burning  is  one  of  the  lowest,  and  to  the 
average  mind,  the  most  dreadful  forms  of  loosening  the 
human  soul  from  its  environs.    The  ancient  Romans,  the 
Jews,  the  Britons  and  other  nations  have  made  use  of  it  in 
their  scheme  of  capital  punishment.     The  Britons  threw 
their  victims,  many  in  number,  into  wicker  cages  made  in 
the  form  of  some  well-known  idol.     The  wood  was  heaped 
around  it  and  the  fire  lighted.     As  the  flames  rolled  upward 
and  mingled  their  roar  with  the  impotent  groans  of  the  vic- 
tims the  likeness  to  the  god  was  lost,  but  to  him  was  ac- 
credited the  vengeance  imposed  on  the  sufferers. 

7.  Burying  Alive. — Another  horrible  method  of  inflict- 
ing the   death   penalty  was  by  burying  alive.     It  seems 
almost  incredible  that,  not  satisfied  with  interring  the  con- 
demned,   some    barbarous    tribes    buried   to  the  hips  or 
shoulders,  packing  the  earth  firmly  in,  and  left  their  victim 
helpless, tomeet  a  lingeringdeath of  exposure  and  starvation. 

8.  Crucifixion. — Crucifixion,  which  the  story  of  Christ 
has  carried  over  the  round  world,  is  a  form  of  punishment  so 
repellant  to  modern  ideas  that  it  is  almost  an  argument  for 
those  who  deny  the  divinity  of  the  Saviour  who  suffered. 
Yet  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  has  presented  this  practice  as  it  ex» 
isted  at  the  time  of  Christ  in  his  brilliant  and  interesting 
description: 

"  Of  all  the  cruel  punishments  of  a  barbarous  age,  cruci- 
fixion was  the  most  barbarous.     It  possessed  a  bad  pre- 


DIFFERENT  METHODS  OF  CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT.     409 

;minence  of  cruelty  in  an  age  when  fashionable  audiences 
crowded  the  vast  amphitheater  to  applaud  the  fearful 
horrors  of  gladiatorial  combats,  and  fair  women  gave  the 
death  signal,  and  feasted  their  sanguinary  eyes  on  the 
ebbing  life  of  the  defeated.  It  was  in  this  age  that  Cicero 
called  crucifixion  a  punishment  most  inhuman  and  shock- 
ing, and  wrote  of  it  that  it  should  be  removed  from  the 
eyes  and  ears  and  the  thought  of  men.  Too  horrible 
for  a  Roman  citizen,  no  freeman  might  be  subjected  to  it. 
It  was  reserved,  with  rare  exceptions,  for  slaves  and  foreign- 
ers. Upon  this  Gentile  cruelty  the  Jew  looked  with  special 
horror.  The  cross,  like  the  eagle,  was  a  sign  of  degrada- 
tion. Its  infliction  by  the  Romans  was  a  badge  ot  Israel's 
servitude.  The  ancient  law  of  Moses  fixed  a  peculiar 
curse  to  it.  To  crucify  even  a  corpse  was  to  submit  it  to 
the  greatest  possible  indignity.  Thus  the  agony  of  pain 
was  intensified  by  the  agony  of  a  peculiar  shame.  The 
physical  agony  of  the  cross  was  that  of  a  lingering  death. 
The  victim's  life  was  wrested  from  him  in  a  tierce,  but  pre- 
determined battle,  that  lasted  many  hours,  often  several 
days.  Eyery  moment  of  the  hopeless  contest  added  new 
agony  to  an  anguish  at  first  almost  unendurable.  The 
form  of  the  Latin  cross  is  as  familiar  as  it  is  sacred  to 
all  Christendom.  The  sufferer  was  usually  bound  upon  it 
as  it  lay  upon  the  ground.  The  hands  and  feet  were  then 
firmly  nailed  to  the  wood.  Lest  this  fastening  should  prove 
too  frail,  a  transverse  piece  of  wood  between  the  thighs 
afforded  additional  support.  The  cross  was  then  elevated, 
with  the  sufferer  upon  it,  and  fastened  firmly  in  the  ground. 
In  this  act  the  body  was  terribly  wrenched.  The  concussion 
often  dislocated  the  limbs.  Then  hanging  between  heaven 
and  earth,  the  victim  was  left  to  die.  The  hot  rays  of  an 
Oriental  sun  beat  down  upon  his  naked  body  and  unshel- 
tered head.  The  ragged  edges  of  his  undressed  wounds 
festered  and  inflamed.  From  these  wounds  shooting  pains 
ran  along  in  accelerating  waves  of  increasing  anguish. 
Every  attempt  to  secure  any  relief  from  the  unnaturally 
constrained  position  increased  the  torment.  The  blood,  im- 
peded in  its  circulation,  flowed  in  slackened  and  laborious 
currents.  An  increasing  fever  consumed  the  body  with  in- 
ternal fires;  the  head  throbbed  with  anguish;  the  parched 
lips  burned  with  a  raging  thirst.  As  death  drew  nigh  insects 
swarmed  upon  the  body,  and  birds  of  prey  commenced  to 
feast  upon  it  before  life  was  yet  extinct.  Yet  no  vital 
organ  was  directly  touched,  and  the  stubborn  life  surrend- 
ered to  its  invincible  foe  only  after  a  long  and  protracted 
siege.  Even  the  pitiless  and  stolid  Roman  endured  not 


410 


DIFFERENT  METHODS  OF,   CAPITAL   PUNISHMENT.     411 

long  the  sight  of  sufferings  at  once  so  protracted  and  in- 
tense. For  death,  if  not  hastened  by  other  means,  did  not 
usually  take  place  for  four  or  five  days.  Rarely,  however, 
was  the  wretched  criminal  suffered  to  die  by  the  mere  in- 
fliction of  the  cross.  A  thrust  with  a  spear  or  a  blow  with 
the  club  at  length  put  an  end  to  tortures  which  wearied 
even  the  patience^of  the  spectators.  Crucifixion  was  not, 
however,  uncommon  in  an  age  when  no  discrimination  was 
made  between  punishment  and  revenge,  and  when  ingenu- 
ity was  exhausted  in  the  endeavor  to  intensify  the  suffer- 
ings of  those  condemned  for  crime,  or  even  captured  in 
war.  At  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  hundreds  of 
Jews  were  crucified  together,  and  left  to  hang  in  sight  of 
the  city  walls." 

9.  Crucifrangium. — There  was  a  peculiar  punishment, 
and   perhaps  a  capital   one,  called   crucifrangium   by  the 
ancients,  inflicted  on  Roman  slaves  and  Christian  martyrs, 
as  also  on  women  and  girls.    Under  Diocletian   twenty- 
three  Christians  suffered  martyrdom  in  this  manner.     The 
legs  of  the  criminal  were  laid  on  an   anvil,  and  by  main 
force  fractured  by  a  heavy  hammer,  somewhat  similar  to 
the  more  modern  custom  ot  breaking  the  bones  of  offenders 
on  a  wheel  by  an  iron  bar. 

10.  Beheading. — Beheading  is  of  an  ancient  date,  and 
was  certainly  known    among    the    Greeks    and   Romans. 
Xenophon   says  that  losing  the  head  was  looked   upon  as 
the  most  honorable  death.     The  decollation,  as  it  was  called 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist  shows  the  existence  of  this  punish- 
ment among  the  Jews  under  the  Roman  governor  of  Judea. 
Suetonius  tells  that  Caligula  kept  an  artist  in  beheading, 
who  decapitated  prisoners  in  his  presence,  fetched  indis- 
criminately for  that   purpose   from   the  jails.     The  mode 
formerly  practiced  in  England,  by  the  ax  and  block  (and 
still  in  use  in  Germany),  and  that  which  originated  in  France 
late  in  the  eighteenth  century  and  was  gradually  adopted 
in  many  other  European  countries — the  guillotine — are  de- 
scribed more  in  detail  elsewhere. 

11.  Breaking  on  the  Wheel. — Breaking  on  the  wheel  is 
a  mode  of  execution  that  has  acquired  some  notoriety  from 
the  frequency  with  which  it  is  mentioned  in  histories  nar- 
rating the  cruelties  common  in  the  Middle  Ages,  but  it  is 
really  only  one  form  of  beating  to  death.     The  condemned, 
was  lashed  upon  the  periphery  of  a  large  wheel,  which  was 
caused  slowly  to  revolve,  and  as  it  revolved,  he  received  a 
succession  of  blows  from  clubs  in  the  hands  of  the  execu- 
tioners, or  from  bludgeons  worked  by  clumsy   machinery 
such  as  the  times  furnished;  thus  bruising  the  flesh,  break- 


EXECUTION  IN  CHINA. 


412 


DIFFERENT   METHODS  OF  CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT.     413 

ing  the  bones,  and  steadily  reducing  the  body  to  a  mangled, 
formless  corpse.  The  "wheel"  was  for  centuries  a  common 
instrument  of  torture  and  death  in  several  countries  of 
Europe. 

12.  Bisecting. — Bisecting  such  as  is  practiced  by  the 
Cambodians  is  thus  described:  "Samuel  hewed  Agag  in 
pieces  before  the  Lord ;"  also  as  instanced  in  the  subjecting  of 
the  Rabbites  to  saws  and  axes  and  a  roasting  in  a  brick  kiln. 
Thus  used,  the  terms  seem  to  include  any  rude,  untaught 
mode  of  cutting  the  body  asunder  with  an  implement  like  a 
sword,  or  with  a  wooden  saw;  a  martyrdom  said  to  have  been 
inflicted  upon  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  and  to  have  been  a  not 
uncommon  fate  of  early  Christians.     Ep.  Heb.  xi,  87,  says 
that  "  many  were  stoned,  were  sawn  asunder."     It  is  men- 
tioned as  a  Babylonian  custom. 

13.  Drawing  and  Quartering. — Drawing  and  quartering 
was  not  a  distinct  punishment,  but  an  adjunct  or  circum- 
stance of  aggravation  formerly  superadded  in  England  to 
hanging  for  the  heinous  crimes,  particularly  high  treason. 
In  the  ancient  and  severer  form,  sentence  involving  draw- 
ing and   quartering  directed  that  the  offender  should  be 
drawn  on  a  hurdle  to  the  place  of  execution,  and    there 
hanged  by  the  neck,  but  not  until  dead;  that  he  should  be 
taken  down  again,  and  while  yet  alive  his  bowels  should  be 
taken  out  and  burned  before  his  face;  and  that  afterward  his 
head  should  be  severed  from  the  body,  and  the  body  divided 
into  four  quarters,  and  his  head  and  quarters  should  be  at 
the  king's  disposal. 

14.  Stripping  the  Skin. — Stripping  the  skin  from  the 
body  of  the  condemned  while  he  yet  lived  was  formerly  the 
custom  in  England.     It  was,  however,  a  barbarous  mode  of 
torturing  an  offender  to  death,  rather  than  a  punishment  in 
a  judicial  sense.     The  mode  of  punishment  which  includes 
flogging  and  the  "knout,"  recently  abolished  in  Russia, also 
covered  by  the  terms  "scourging,"  and  "whipping,"  has  not 
been    used,  primarily    at    least,   in    the    other   European 
countries  in  modern  times  as  "capital  punishment;"  that  is, 
has  not  been  used  where  the  sentence  or  judicial  design  has 
been  to  inflict  death. 

15.  The  Garrote. — The  mode  of  execution  by  the  gar- 
rote  seems  to  have  been  originally  devised  by  the  Moors 
and  Arabs,  and  to  have  been  taken   from   them  by  the 
Spaniards,  by  whom  it  has  been  transmitted  to  the  Spanish 
colonies  in  America.    In  the  earliest  form  it  consisted  of 
simply  placing  a  cord  round  the  neck  of  the  criminal,  who 
was  seated  on  a  chair  fixed  to  a  post,  and  then  twisting  the 

21 


THE  GUILOTINE  EXECUTION  IN  FRANCE. 


414 


MORTGAGE    DEBT.  415 

cord  by  means  of  a  Stick  inserted  between  it  and  the  back 
of  the  neck  till  strangulation  was  produced.  Afterward  a 
brass  collar  was  used  containing  a  screw,  which  the  execu- 
tioner turned  till  its  point  entered  the  spinal  marrow  where 
it  unites  with  the  brain,  causing  instant  death. 

16.  Hanging.— Hanging  is,  and  has  long  been,  the  mode 
of  capital  punishment  employed  in  England  and  America. 
In  its  simplest  form,  that  of  suspending  the  criminal  by  a 
cord  around  his  neck  from  the  branch  of  a  tree,  must  have 
been  of  very  early  origin.    Accounts  vary  as  to  the  date  of 
the  introduction  of  the  gallows  as  the  insirument.     This 
seems  to  have  occurred  in  Roman  dominions  soon  after  the 
Emperor  Constaritine  abolished  crucifixion.    An  early  form 
of  this  seems  to  have  been  a  crude  imitation  of  a  tree— a  tall 
post  bearing  at  its  top  a  projecting  beam,  from  the  end  of 
which  the  fatal  cord  could  be  suspended.      In  the  fifteenth 
c-  ntury  the  gallows  beam  balanced,  like  that  of  a  pair  of 
scales,  at  the  top  of  the  post,  from  one  end  of  which  depends  I 
thvi  haiter,  and  from  the  other  a  heavy  weight.     When  the 
rope  was  pulled  down  and  put  around  the  offender's  neck, 
the  weight  at  the  other  end  lifted  him  from  the  ground. 

17.  Execution  by  the  Guillotine  and  by  Electricity. — 
Far  superior  to  hanging  as  a  means  of  taking  life  judicially 
is  execution  by  the  guillotine  and  by  electricity.    The  guil- 
lotine is  at  the  present  day  employed  in  France  and  her 
colonies,  in  Belgium,  Norway,  Sweden,  and   in  Denmark. 
The  accompanying    illustration  gives  a  clear  idea  of  its 
workings.     The  electric  chair  is  so  far  in  use  in  the  state  of 
New  York  only.    Although  its  operation  was  attended  with 
some  bungling  at  the  outset,  a  consensus  of  opinion  pro- 
nounces it  now  the  safest  and  most  humane  method  of 
taking  life;  and,  judging  by  the  several  reports  from  the 
other  side,  the  probabilities  are  that  the  system  will  soon  be 
introduced  into  several  European  countries. 

Mortgage  Debt. 

The  census  of  1890  gives  the  aggregate  mortgage  debt  as 
$6,019,679,985.  Debt  of  public  corporations  $6,000,000,000. 
The  remaining  private  debt  is  estimated  at  $5,000,000,000, 
making  the  total  private  debt  more  than  $17,000,000,000. 
The  public  debt  amounts  to  $2,027,170,546. 

New  Yorkers  owe  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  mortgage 
debt,  Pennsylvanians  a  tenth.  ^  These  two  states,  with  Massa- 
chusetts, New  Jersey,  and  Ohio,  owe  more  than  one-half  of 
the  debt,  so  that  western  and  southern  people  need  not  feel 
that  they  aione  have  debt. 


THE  EXECUTION  OF  KEMLER, 
The  First  Electrical  Execution  in  America,  New  York  City. 


416 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM* 


417 


IN  THE  JAIL  YARD. 
The  Schoolhouse  Makes  No  Criminals. 

The  Origin  and  History  of  the  Com- 
mon School  System. 

The  thought  that  man  as  man,  without  reference  to  any 
special  practical  end,  should  be  educated  seems  to  have 
occurred  first  to  the  Greeks,  but  it  was  not  until  the  Refor- 
mation that  men  began  to  hold  the  opinion  that  every  man's 
intellect  should  be  so  trained  as  to  be  able  to  read  and 
inquire  and  think  for  itself. 

During  what  are  called  the  dark  centuries  a  state  of 
deplorable  ignorance  prevailed  all  over  Europe.  It  is  re- 
freshing to  find  in  the  history  of  this  dark  middle  age  two 
monarchs  who  strove  to  give  to  their  subjects  the  inestima- 
b1"  privilege  of  lifting  themselves  out  of  the  depths  of  ignor 
ance  in  which  they  were  immersed.  At  the  accession  of 
Charlemagne  to  the  throne  of  France  no  means  of  educa- 
tion existed  in  his  dominions.  This  monarch,  who  it  is  said 
was  incapable  of  writing,  invited  men  of  letters  from  abroad 


418 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM. 


to  come  and  reside  at  his  court  and  instruct  himself  and  his 
family.  He  also  established  schools  in  various  cities  of  his 
empire. 

ID  the  ninth  century  Alfred  the  Great,  of  England,  made 
similar  efforts,  but  they  died  with  him,  his  successors  being 
too  much  occupied  with  warfare  to  continue  the  educational 
vvork  thus  initiated. 


NO  SCHOOL  IN  REACH. 


Down  to  the  time  of  the  transitional  movement  in  Europe 
from  the  mediaeval  ages  to  the  modern  world,  there  is  little 
of  interest  to  the  cause  of  popular  education  to  record. 

The  influence  of  the  reformation  upon  education  was 
made  manifest  early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  In  161(f 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM. 


419 


the  Scotch  Parliament  adopted  measures  for  settling  and 
supporting  a  public  school  in  each  parish  at  the  expense  of 
the  heritors  or  landed  proprietors.  The  legislation  was 
repealed  at  the  restoration  of  Charles  1 1.,  but  was  re-enacted 
by  the  Scottish  Parliament  in  1696. 

Lord  Macaulay  says:  "  By  this  memorable  law  it  was,  in 
the  Scotch  phrase,  statuted  and  ordained  that  every  parish  in 
the  realm  should  provide  a  commodious  schoolhouse  and 
should  pay  a  moderate  stipend  to  a  schoolmaster.  The  effect 
could  not  be  immediately  felt,  but,  before  one  generation  had 
passed  away  it  began  to  be  evident  that  the  common  people 


THE  OLD  WAY  OF  TEACHING  SCHOOL. 

of  Scotland  were  superior  in  intelligence  to  the  common 
people  of  any  other  country  in  Europe.  To  whatever  land 
the  Scotchman  might  wander,  to  whatever  calling  he  might 
betake  himself^  in  America  or  in  India,  in  trade  or  in  war, 
the  advantage  which  he  derived  from  his  early  training 
raised  him  above  his  competitors.  If  he  was  taken  into  a 
warehouse  as  a  porter,  he  soon  became  foreman.  If  he 
enlisted  in  the  army  he  soon  became  a  sergeant.  Scotland, 
meanwhile,  in  spite  of  the  barrenness  of  her  soil  and  the 
severity  of-  her  climate,  made  such  progress  in  agriculture 
in  manufactures,  in  commerce)  in  letters,  in  science,  in  att 


420  HISTORY  OF  THE  SCHOOL   SYSTEM. 

that  constitutes  civilization,  as  the  Old  World  has  never 
seen  equaled,  and  as  even  the  New  World  has  scarcely 
seen  surpassed. 

"  This  wonderful  change  is  to  be  attributed,  not  indeed 
solely,  but  principally,  to  the  national  system  of  educa- 
tion." 

Since  then  every  power  of  the  civilized  world  has 
adopted  some  system  of  public  schools. 

What  little  objection  has  been  made  to  taxation 
for  universal  education  in  this  country  has  come  from 
wealth,  which  says  it  cannot  properly  be  taxed  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  people.  We  must  not  forget  that  without  law 
the  ownership  of  that  wealth  could  not  exist. 

Jeremy  Bentham  says:  "The  idea  of  property  consists 
in  an  established  expectation,  in  the  persuasion  of  being 
able  to  draw  such  or  such  an  advantage  from  the  thing  pos- 
sessed, according  to  the  nature  of  the  case.  Now  this 
expectation,  this  persuasion  can  only  be  the  work  of  the 
law.  I  cannot  count  upon  the  enjoyment  of  that  which  1 
regard  as  mine,  except  through  the  promise  of  the  -law 
which  guarantees  it  to  me.  Property  and  law  are  born 
together  and  die  together.  Before  laws  were  made  there 
was  no  property;  take  away  laws  and  property  ceases.''  . 

The  words,  "I  cannot  count  upon  the  enjoyment  of  that 
which  I  regard  as  mine,  except  through  the  promise  of  the 
law  which  guarantees  it  to  me,"  come  home  with  significant 
meaning  in  this  day  of  socialism  and  oi  clashing  between 
capital  and  labor,  which  now  so  often  occurs  in  the  mon- 
archies of  the  Old  World,  and.  even  in  our  own  land.  The 
law  guarantees  the  right  of  property,  but  instantaneous 
with  the  creation  of  the  right  of  property  must  exist  the 
paramount  claim  of  the  government  to  such  portion  of 
it  as  may  be  necessary  fully  to  effectuate  that  guaranty. 
The  law  must  be  upheld  and  respected,  or  else  all  rights  of 
ownership  are  in  jeopardy  and  industry  paralyzed. 

To  maintain  the  law,  education  of  the  people  is  more 
potent  than  standing  armies. 

Lord  Brougham,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  said :  "  There 
have  been  periods  when  the  country  heard  with  dismay  that 
the  soldier  was  abroad.  That  is  not  the  case  now.  Let  the 
soldier  be  abroad;  in  the  present  age  he  can  do  nothing. 
There  is  another  person  abroad — a  less  important  person  in 
the  eyes  of  some,  an  insignificant  person,  whose  labors 
have  tended  to  produce  this  state  of  things.  The  school- 
master is  abroad!  And  I  trust  more  to  him,  armed  with  his 
primer,  than  I  do  the  soldier  in  full  military  array,  for  up- 
holding and  extending  the  liberties  of  his  country*'* 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM. 


421 


It  is  intelligence,"  said  Daniel  Webster,  "  which  has 
reared  the  majestic  columns  of  our  national  glory,  and  this 
alone  can  prevent  them  from  crumbling  into  ashes." 

State  education,  being  so  important  to  national  exist- 
ence, is  therefore  a  very  appropriate  object  of  taxation. 

In  the  English  colonies  of  this  country  the  people  were 
accustomed  to  support  the  church  by  taxation.  In  many 
rf  the  New  England  towns  they  had  their  church,  and  the 
town  chose  its  pastor  and  supported  him,  and  in  many  cases 
the  pastor  was  also  the  schoolmaster.  In  the  course  of  time 
however,  the  sects  multiplied,  and  the  church  in  conse- 


THE  NEW  WAY  OF  TEACHING  SCHOOL. 

quence  became  disconnected  from  the  town  government; 
But  the  work  of  education  by  the  government  was  continued. 
One  of  the  first  legislative  acts  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress was  in  1787.  It  was  enacted  that  schools  and  means 
of  education  should  forever  be  encouraged,  and  in  pursu- 
ance of  this  policy  the  government  set  apart  the  sixteenth 
section  in  each  township  for  the  support  of  public  schools. 
This  enactment  was  for  the  territory  north  of  the  Ohio  river. 
Notwithstanding  the  educational  interests  begun  in  this 
small  way,  it  has  developed  great  results.  It  was  in  this 
way  that  education  was  extended  to  the  west,  and  since  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  Southern  states  our  public  school 
system  has  been  carried  South,  and  the  youth  of  all  the 
states  of  the  Union  are  now  blessed  with  the  privileges  of  a 
free  public  school. 

26 


422  THE  HOPE  OF  OUR  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

The  Origin  of  the  School  District. — Children  cannot 
properly  be  required  to  go  further  than  two  miles  to  school, 
arid  wherever  the  rectangular  survey  prevails,  of  course, 
there  is  a  regular  system  of  locating  schoolhouses.  The 
township  is  six  miles  square.  It  is  customary  to  locate  a 
public  highway  on  each  section  line.  These  highways 
divide  the  township  into  little  squares  of  one  mile  each,  and 
it  is  customary  to  locate  a  schoolhouse  at  each  alternate 
cross-roads.  This  plan  gives  to  each  township  nine  school- 
houses  two  miles  apart.  A  school  district  is  thus  made  two 
miles  square  with  a  schoolhouse  in  the  center.  But  this  is 
an  unfavorable  shape.  Those  who  live  at  the  corners  of 
the  district  are  two  miles  from  school.  A  more  convenient 
method  for  forming  district  is  recommended  by  Jesse  Macy. 
By  this  plan  a  district  is  formed,  containing  five  square  miles 
instead  of  four,  and  no  one  who  lives  upon  a  public  highway 
can  be  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half  from  school.  On  this 
plan  the  children  living  on  the  same  highway  go  to  the 
same  school,  while  on  the  other  plan  they  often  go  to  differ- 
ent schools. 


The  Hope  of  Our  Public  Schools. 

1.  The   Safety  of  American  Institutions. — When    the 
American   people   gained   their  independence  they  estab- 
lished the  free  public  school.    The  founders  and  fathers  of 
our  country  early  saw  that  the  safety  and  perpetuity  of  our 
country  depended  upon  education.     The  nations  that  lead 
in  civilization,  in  prosperity  in    invention    and    in    general 
progress  are  those  who  have  adopted  some  system  of  com- 
pulsory education  and  what  is  true  of  other  nations  is  also 
true  of  ours.     If    civilization  advances  the  public  school 
must  lead  the  way. 

2.  What  Is  Education. — It  is  the  uplift  of  one  soul  by 
the  personal  contact  and  effort  of  a  superior  soul,  not  in  a 
material,  but  in  a  moral  and    intellectual  sense.    And  no 
appliance  or    method    can  take  the  place  of  the  superior 
soul.     How  infinitesimal  appear  all  educational  machinery 
when  Arnold  of  Rugy  arises  before  us.     To  rub  against 
such  a  man  for  an  hour  was  worth  all  the  machine  work  of 
a  whole  year. 

3.  Our    Supreme    Need. — Our    supreme  need   in  the 
schools  of  to-day  is  men,  not  machinery,  not  methods,  not 
appliances.    We  need  men  of  character,  of  conviction,  of 
Steadfastness  of  purpose. 


THE  SCHOOL  TEACHER  CLOSING  SCHOOL, 
423 


-124        THE  HOPE  OF  OUR  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

If  right  character  is  to  be  produced  in  the  public  school, 
it  must  be  through  the  influence  of  those  who  have  a  right 
character.  The  great  mass  of  America's  youth  receives 
nothing  beyond  that  which  the  public  school  offers.  It  is 
therefore  an  essential  that  our  youth  be  trained  in  the  pub- 
lic school  in  all  that  tends  to  make  true  citizenship. 

4.  Knowledge  not  Education. — Although  every  great 
teacher,  from  Aristotle  until   now,  has   insisted  on  a  more 
rational  method,  we  are  still  tyrranized  over  by  the  tradi- 

,tion  that  education  is  synonymous  wi;h  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge.  It  is  not  an  education  to  know  many  things. 
The  brain  may  be  loaded  with  a  mass  of  heterogeneous 
facts,date  added  to  date,rnountain  height  to  mountain  height, 
river  length  to  river  length,  population  to  population — until 
time  or  finance  fails,  and  then  the  education  is  far  from 
complete.  Digestion  and  assimilation  are  as  necessary  to 
mental  as  to  physical  health.  Only  applied  knowledge 
is  power.  He  is  most  truly  and  really  educated  who  is  pre- 
pared for  the  great  work  of  life. 

5.  Moral  and  Religious  Training.— Saying  nothing  of 
creeds  and  dogmas,  the  youth  of  our  nation  must  be  under 
the  charge  of  teachers  who  inculcate  the  principles  of  man- 
hood.    Honesty,  integrity,  the  duty  of  man  to  man  and  of 
man  to  God  must  be  impressed  upon  the  mind  in  the  forma- 
tive years  or  the  youth  develops  to  be  a  burden  and  a  curse 
to  the  community  which   he   should  assist  to  enlighten  and 
to  elevate. 

6.  Responsibility  of  Teachers. — He  who  has  not  been 
overwhelmed  with  the  importance  of  the  great  and  sacred 
work  of  instructing  the   youth,  lacks  the  first   elements  of 
fitness  for  it.     Pyramids  crumble  but  the  proudest  achieve- 
ments of  the  architect  are  surpassed  by  the  teacher.      His 
work  tends  to  the  building  of  the  character  of  the  individ- 
ual and  the  enlightenment  and  Christianizing  of  the  com- 
munity and  the  nation  and  in  this  respect  sweeps  into  eter- 
nity.    Let  our  schools  be  presided  over  by  patriotic  teach- 
ers who  are  sound  in  morals  and  withal  whole-souled  Chris- 
tians and  the  future  of  our  country  is  determined. 

7.  Value    to    National   Life   and   Prosperity.— Joseph 
Cook  aptly  and  truly  says  :     "  There  are  no  proper  concep- 
tions, I  think,  in  society  at  large,  of  the  value  of  educating 
the  uncleanest  poor.     Why,  where  have  many  of  the  great- 
est inventors  come  from?      Who  was  Robert  Burns?     Who 
is  the  American  Edison?     Who  was  Ferguson  when  he  lay 
on  his  back  and  stretched  a  thread  before  him,  put  beads 
upon  it  and  marked  the  positions  of  the  stars  and  made  a 
map  of  the  constellations  in  the  peasant's  hut?    Who  was 


THE   HOPE  OF   OUR  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  425 

that  railsplitter  who  was  assassinated  in  Washington  at  the 
end  of  a  civil  war,  and  over  whose  eloquence  as  well 
as  over  whose  statesmanship,  every  zone  of  the  planet 
stood  hushed  in  wonder?  The  talent  that  lies  in  the 
lowest  population — how  are  we  ever  to  know  how  great 
it  is  unless  we  bring  Burns  out  from  under  the  thatch, 
and  Ferguson  up  from  his  peasant's  hut,  and  our  Edison 
into  proper  employment, and  our  Lincoln  from  his  hovel  up 
and  up,  until  he  finds  the  place  God  made  for  him  at  the 
summit  of  political  power  in  the  foremost  nation  of  modern 
times?  Where  are  the  lax  executors  of  law,  and  the  fleec- 
ers and  tempters  of  the  poor,  who  keep  the  vail  of  vice  or 
ignorance  hung  over  the  eyes  of  the  lower  populations?  A 
man  very  rarely  finds  out  what  great  things  are  in  him  un- 
til he  drops  all  the  weights  that  impede  his  race.  He  does 
not  know  how  swift  he  can  be  until  every  bad  habit  is 
sloughed  off.  Where  are  the  men  who  execute  the  laws 
against  intemperance?  Shut  your  grog  shops,  open  your 
schools,  and  God  knows  what  flashing  jewels  you  may  yet 
dig  out  of  the  neglected  ores  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  un- 
wrought  mine  of  the  modern  world  " 

8.  Incentives  to  Higher  Education.— Our  public  schools 
are  the  incentives  to  higher  education.     Our  colleges  and 
universities,  scattered  all  over  the  Union,  contro'led  princi- 
pally by  Christian  denominations,  and  conducted  on  broad 
and  liberal  plans,   must  depend    largely   upon   the   public 
school  for  their  patronage.     In  the  public  school  the  desire 
for   higher  education   is  awakened   and  if  fostered  by  the 
teacher,  leads  to  noble  and  enlightened  citizenship.     Why 
can  we  fill  so  many  institutions  with  students,  if  not  for  the 
fact  that  in  the  public  school,  the  youth  is  led  to  see  the  ad- 
vantages and  possibilities  of  a  truly  educated  man, 

9.  Importance  of  Schools.— The    schoolboy  of  to-day 
becomes   the   voter   of   to-morrow.     The  millions  of  youth 
now  in  the  schools  of  America  are  soon   to  decide  all  the 
grave  questions  of  national  interest  which  concern  us  as  a 
people.     The  ballot  more  than  the  bullet   must   determine 
the  destiny  of  our  country.     The  ballot  in  the  hands  of  the 
ignorant  may  do  more  mischief  than  the  torch  of  the  incen- 
diary in  the  towers  of  the  metropolis.    Our  schools  are  the 
palladium  of  our  commonwealth. 


426  SCHOOL  SAVINGS  BANKS. 

School  Savings  Banks  and    How  to 
Organize  Them. 

1.  What    Parents    Owe   to   Their   Children.— It  is  a 
lamentable  fact  that  few  children  have  any  knowledge  pi 
the  value  and  use  of  money.     Few  parents  give  their  chil- 
dren little,  if  any  discipline,  in  the  art  of  saving  money,  and 
consequently  children  grow  from  childhood  to  manhood  and 
womanhood  without  any  knowledge  of  business. 

2.  Teaching  Children  the  Value  and  Use  of  Money.— 
Children  should  be  taught  the  practical  lessons  of  business 
in  connection  with  their  school  studies.     The  study  of  arith- 
metic is  but  a  theoretical  system  of  business,  and  if  the  les- 
sons can  be  made  practical  and  applied,  there  will  be  ten 
times  the  benefit  to  pupils.     There  is  nothing  better  than  a 
school  savings  bank  to  bring  out  that  which  will  be  most 
available  later  in  life.     Business  training  cannot  be  begun 
too  young;  every  school  should  have  a  school  savings  bank, 
and  no  doubt  it  will  be  the  means  of  making  many  prosper- 
ous and  successful  business  men  as  well  as  furnishing  val- 
uable lessons  to  the  girls,  which  will  make  them  competent 
and  available  in  supporting  themselves,  should  it  ever  be 
necessary  to  do  so. 

3.  The  School  Savings  Banks  System.— The  school 
savings  banks  system,  so  favorably  known  and  acceptably 
used  in  some  European  countries,  has  attracted  consider' 
able  attention  in  the  United   States-  during  the  past  year. 
Its   experimental  introduction  in  a  few  schools  here  has 
proven  it  a  successful  and  valuable  educational  factor.     It 
would  appear  that  only  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  simplicity 
of  inculcating  thrift,  in  connection  with  book  learning,  was 
required  to  insure  its  general  adoption. 

4.  In  Three  Hundred  Schools.— School  savings  banks 
are  in  use  in  three  hundred  schools  in  this  country,  and  the 
28,000  scholars  who  are  depositors  have  about  $140,000  to 
their  credit.     These,  school  banks  are  in  eleven  different 
states,  Pennsylvania  having  one  hundred  and  forty  of  them 
and  New  York  sixty-five;  the  others  being  in  Nebraska,  Ver- 
mont,   Maine,    Indiana,  California,    Ohio,    North    Dakota, 
Massachusetts  and    New    Jersey.    These    have,  with  few 
exceptions,  been  established  since  1888;  most  of  them  dur- 
ing 1890,  1891  and  1892.     Frequent  inquiries  as  to  the  prac- 
tical  working  and  advantages  of  the  system  betoken  pop- 
nlar  interest  in  this  method  of  teaching  economy. 

5.  Noble  Examples. — Madame  Carnot,  wife  of  the  late 
s  rench  president,  gave  a  Christmas  entertainment  in  1888 


SCHOOL  SAVINGS  BANKS. 


427 


to  400  of  the  poorest  school  children  in  Paris  at  Elysee  Pal- 
ace, and  gave  each  child  a  school  savings  bank  book  with 
credit  of  10  francs.  Many  lesser  instances  of  practical  en- 
couragement* to  the  poor  are  cited  by  the  French  press. 
The  greatest  assistance  that  can  be  extended  to  an  individ- 
ual is  to  teach  him  to  help  himself,  to  see  arid  understand 
his  own  resources  and  responsibilities.  Pope  Leo  XIII.  at 
a  papal  jubilee  gave  a  bank  book  and  100  francs  to  each 


DOING  BUSINESS  WITH  SCHOOL  BOYS. 

boy  and  girl  in  a  certain  district,  born  on  New  Year's  day. 
A  contribution  of  one  franc  or  a  half  franc  to  start  a  school 
account,  given  to  a  child,  or  better,  an  opportunity  shown 
him  to  earn  the  same  amount,  instills  the  initial  lesson  of 
economy  quite  as  effectually. 

6.  How  to  Establish  a  School  Savings  Bank. — In 
order  to  establish  the  system  successfully  it  is  necessary  to 
have  the  co-operation  of  a  bank  and  the  approbation  of  the 
School  authorities.  The  distribution  of  a  few  facts  in  regard 


428  SCHOOL  SAVINGS  BANKS. 

to  the  practical  economy  through  printed  literature,the  news- 
papers or  a  little  meeting  called  to  present  the  work  seldom 
fails  to  win  the  desired  support.  The  banks  in  most  towns  are 
so  anxious  to  secure  the  children's  deposits  that  they  have 
gladly  assumed  the  expense  of  printing  the  required  forms; 
indeed,  in  some  instances  it  has  been  a  delicate  matter  to 
decide  which  bank  should  have  the  privilege.  The  managers 
realize  that  if  the  children  deposit  with  them  they  are  likely 
to  become  customers  in  later  life,  and  from  a  business  stand- 
point they  are  always  ready  to  encourage  habits  of  thrift. 

7.  School  Authorities  Endorse  It. — The  school  authori- 
ties are  usually  in  glad  accord  with  the  idea  of  teaching 
economy  in  the  schools;  the  teachers  themselves,  in  most 
instances  noted,  are  enthusiastic  in  the  work.   The  children 
enter  with  zest  into  the  accumulation  of  their  earnings  and 
savings,  while  the  development  of  their  individuality  and 
self-dependence  is  a  matter  of  general  comment.    When 
the  system  is  about  to  be  instituted  the  teacher  explains  to 
the  scholars  the  end  and  aim  of  the  school  savings  banks; 
that  it  is  to  teach  them  the  practical  value  of  money,  how 
it  grows  by  attention,  the  benefit  of  industry,  the  delight  pJ 
giving  and  spending  wisely,  with  other  salutary  lessons  ir. 
thrift  as  opportunity  occurs.  The  roll  is  called  every  Monday 
morning  tor  the  collection  of  the  children's  savings.    This 
occupies  only  a  very  short  time,  even  the  morning  the  work 
is  instituted.     Each  child  who  is  a  depositor  has  the  little 
copyrighted  savings  bank  card,  on  the  face  of  which  is  his 
name,  that  of  the  teacher  and  the  school.    On  the  back  are 
the  regulations.    The  card  is  folded,  and  on  the  inside  is 
the  date  for  each  Monday  in  the  school  year,  with  space 
opposite  for  amount  of  deposit. 

8.  Names  Are  Called.— When  the  names  are  called  by 
the  teacher  each  pupil  who  desires  to  deposit  steps  up  with 
his  card  and  money,  handing  them  quickly  to  the  teacher, 
saying,  "  Yes,  5  cents,"  or    whatever  the    sum    may    be. 
She  with  a  figure  credits  the  amount  on  the  child's  card 
and  on  her  roll  book;  passing  the  card  back  to  the  child, 
who    keeps   it  always  in   hand    as  a  memorandum    and 
receipt.    The  first  collection  in  the  school  is  deposited  in 
the  bank  as  a  general  school  fund.     When  a  scholar  has 
deposited  50  cents  or  one  dollar,  as  the  authorities  may  agree, 
he  is  given  a  bank  book  and  the  money  is  placed  to  his  per- 
sonal credit  by  the  bank;  when  he  has  S3  an  interest  of  3  per 
cent,  is  allowed  him  by  the  bank,  and  he  has  the  privileges 
ot  an  adult  depositor,  acting  through  school  facilities. 

10.    Teachers'  Monthly  List  of  Depositors. — With  the 
last  collection  of  each  month  the  "Teachers'  Monthly  list  of 


SCHOOL  SAVINGS  BANKS. 


429 


"Good  principles  and  good  habits  are  in  themselves  a  fortune.'- 


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430 


SCHOOL  SAVINGS  BANKS. 


Depositors"  is  sent  by  each  teacher  to  the  principal  of  the 
school,  and  by  him  to  the  bank  with  the  children's  bank 
books  that  individual  credits  may  '"be  properly  made. 
These  lists  are  returned  by  the  bank  to  the  principal  with 
the  scholars'  bank  books  during  the  week.  The  bank  books 
are  given  to  the  children  to  take  to  their  homes  the  last 
Friday  of  the  month,  to  be  returned  with  the  following 
Monday  deposits. 

ii.    Signature  of  Parent  or  Guardian  and  Principal. — 
The  check  with  which  pupils  withdraw  their  money  requires 


A  SCHOOL  SAVINGS  BANK. 


the  signature  of  parent  or  guardian  and  principal.  The 
principal  uses  the  general  school  fund  bank  book,  received 
when  the  first  school  deposit  was  made.  It  is  always  sent 
with  the  week's  deposits  and  returned  to  him  by  messenger 
with  full  amount  ot  credit.  This  frees  him  from  responsi- 
bility, and  the  arrangement  is  such  that  any  error  can  be  at 
once  traced  to  its  source. 

12.  No  Power  to  Withdraw  Money. — The  principal  or 
teacher  has  no  power  to  withdraw  money  personally.  The 
bank  books  taken  into  the  home  once  a  month  arouse  family 
interest,  and  parents  often  have  been  interested  to  curtail 
needless  expenses  by  the  practical  lesson  in  the  accumula- 
tion of  small  savings  thus  taken  to  them.  The  children 


SCHOOL  SAVINGS  BANKS  431 

enjoy  this  instruction  which  fits  them  for  everyday  life  and 
must  develop  to  more  self-reliant  manhood  and  woman- 
hood. 

13.  A  Thorough  Trial. — This  system  has  been  on  trial 
for  two  years   in    Montgomery  county,  Pennsylvania,  now 
having  it  in  use  in  sixty  of  the  schools.     We  have  heard  no 
discouraging  word  of  it  save  from  the  cigarette  and  candy 
vendors,  who  complain  that  it  injures    their    trade.     The 
teachers  express  much  gratification  in  the  credits  of  the 
scholars,  and  have    themselves    acquired  some    practical 
knowledge  of  banking. 

14.  The  Young  Man  with  a  Future. — One  principal 
tells    us  of  a  boy  who  was  obliged  to  stop  school  to  learn  a 
trade  at  fourteen  preparatory  to  family  support,  but  who  is 
so  interested  in  his  school  fund  that  he  walks  to  it,  ont. 
and  a  half  miles,  every  Saturday  evening  for  a  year  past 
with  25  cents  to  add  to  his  account.    This  boy  will  doubtless 
make  a  provident  successful  man,  arid  is  only  one  of  the 
many  who  are  being  aided  through  this  easy  instrumentality 
to  know  the  value  of  systematic  thrift. 

15.  May  Solve  the  Problem  of  Daily  Existence. — The 
child  becomes  an  active  rather  than  a  passive  agent;  he  is 
a  recognized  part  of  the  nation,  an  individual  factor,  gaining 
with  his  book  learning  an  acquaintance  with  the  principles 
of  thrift,  a  knowledge  wherewith  he  may  solve  the  problem 
of  daily  existence.     The  average  boy  and  girl    who  have 
thus  deposited  their  small  savings  go  out  into  the  broader 
life  from  the  public  school  having  $100  or  $200,  perhaps 
more,  to  his  or  her  individual  credit. 

16.  Rich  and  Poor  Children.— The  children  of  the  rich 
and  the  children  of  the  very  poor  perhaps  need  this  econo- 
mic instruction   most,  though  there  are  many  women  and 
some  men  in  the  middle  walks  of  life  to-day  who  cannot 
without  aid  make  out  a  bank  check  and  endorse  it  or  give 
the  simplest   receipt  in  form.     This  instruction  gives  the 
children  familiarity  with  these  forms,  through  practical  use, 
with  their  earliest  learning.    The  children   of  well-to-do 
people,  who  have  money  given  them  as  a  regular  allowance, 
have  surprised  their  parents  by  the  amount  saved  in  this 
manner.     In  some  cases  they  have  kindly  given,  in  an  un- 
ostentatious fashion,  pennies  to  schoolmates,  enabling  them 
to  start  accounts. 

17.  Voluntary  Deposits. — The  deposits  are  all  voluntary 
on  the  part  of  the  pupils.     From  one-third  to  one-half  of 
the  scholars  in  the  schools  where  the  system  has  been  intro- 
duced become  depositors,  some  making  additions  weekly, 
Others  less  frequently.    The  work  is  entirely  philanthropic, 


432  MILITARY  TRAINING. 

bringing  reward  to  the  children,  the  neighborhoods,  ancl 
through  them,  to  the  nation  —  our  nation,  great  in  its 
strength,  great  in  its  need  of  purifying  and  enlarging  influ- 
ence to  insure  perpetuity  as  God's  nation. 

18.  Late  Records. — Records  of  late  school  meetings  in 
Belgium  and  Denmark  report  the  Trustees  of  Public  In- 
struction and  School  Inspectors  as  speaking  ably  to  the 
pupils  on  improving  and  keeping  in  mind  through  life  the 
lessons  of  thrift  allowed  them  through  the  school  banks. 


Military  Training  in  Public  Schools. 

Within  the  past  few  years  this  idea  has  found  favor  with 
many,  and  yet  it  is  as  strongly  opposed  by  many  of  our 
ablest,  most  intelligent,  and  most  patriotic  citizens.     It  is 
argued  that  we  are  a  peace-loving  and  peace-making  na- 
tion; that  it  is  inconsistent  to  teach  our  children  the  princi- 
Sles  of  peace  and  the  arts  of  war  at  the  same  time.      It  is 
ardly  possible  that  the  system  will  be  universally  approved 
and  adopted.    We  append  some  arguments  used  by  those 
in  favor  of  the  system. 

1.  Discipline. — Discipline  and  good  government  make 
a  school.    Without  proper  subordination  and  a  due  respect 
on  the  part  of  the  pupils  for  law  and  order,  there  can  be  no 
intellectual  progress.    Discipline  consequently  is  the  essen- 
tial principle  of  a  successful  school,  and  the  first  lessons  of 
civil  government  and  respect  for  law  are  thus  early  im- 
pressed upon  the  mind  of  the  pupil  of  the  public  school. 

2.  Military  Discipline. — The   monotony  of  the  school 
work  can  be  broken  and  a  greater  interest  manifested  on 
the  play  ground  by  organizing  the  different  grades  into 
small  military  companies  or  bands;  teachers  should  become 
familiar  with  the  common  military  tactics,  and  should  drill 
the  school  in  marching  and  the  use  of  arms.    Wooden  guns 
and  a  wooden  cannon  can  be  easily  made  at  a  small  ex- 
pense, and  the  boys  will  take  great  pride  in  the  work,  and 
the  teachers  will  find  it  not  only  pleasant,  but  a  profitable 
influence  among  the  students. 

All  pupils  should  be  first  trained  in  grades  and  then  all 
united  into,  one  company  for  general  drill  and  parade. 
After  pupils  have  attained  some  proficiency,  officers  should 
be  elected  or  appointed  and  a  regular  military  organization 
perfected. 

3.  Good   Government. — Military    discipline    and    drill 
are  found  to  be  of  great  assistance  in  preserving  good  gov- 
ernment, in  holding  the  student's  attention  to  study  and  in 
sharpening  the  intellectual  faculties.    There  results  an  in- 


434  MILITARY  TRAINING. 

creased  excellence  in  academic  work.  Obedience  and  a 
proper  respect  for  authority  become  second  nature.  The 
cadet  in  learning  to  obey  develops  in  himself  that  rarest 
and  most  precious  gift,  the  power  of  self-control,  which 
marks  the  noblest  type  of  man.  Moreover,  there  is  a  charm 
and  an  incentive  in  a  military  atmosphere  that  appeal  to 
the  most  sluggish  nature  and  inspire  one  to  increased  ef- 
fort to  excel. 

4.  Indifferent  Students.     Hence  it  is  that   many  indif- 
ferent students,  on  passing  from  a  common  school  to  a  mil- 
itary   institution,  surprise  their  former  teachers  and  ac- 
quaintances by   earnest  application  and  brilliant  results. 
Rank  and  office  being  the  reward  for  a  good  deportment 
and  scholarship,  the  student  is  impelled  by  a  motive  power 
not  existing  elsewhere.     The   cadet  officer  in  performing 
his  duties   in    commanding   and  in   directing  his    fellows, 
learns  lessons  that  will  be  of  lasting  value  to  him  in  after- 
life.    Both  as  officer  and  as  private  the  cadet  learns  to  at- 
tend carefully  to  matters  of  personal   neatness  and   exem- 
plary deportment.    There  is  no  other  system  by  which  are 
instilled  so  thoroughly  order,  patience,  punctuality,   cheer- 
ful obedience,  respect  for  one's   superiors,  and  a  sense  of 
duty,  honor  and  manliness. 

5.  Good  for  Brain  Work. — "Under  a  system  of  mili- 
tary education  it  would  seem  that  there  must  be  a  loss  in 
the  time  and  energy  available  for  the  usual  academic  work. 
Experience  shows  that  the  very  opposite  is  true.     It  is  seen 
that  the  time  devoted  to  military  instruction  and  exercise 
is  more  than  compensated  by  the  increased  mental  activity 
and  vigor  of  the  student.     His  attention  is  sharpened  and 
his  intellect  quickened.     He  is  more  alert  and  can  acquire 
more  in  a  given  time.     It  is  not  every  youth  who  is  studious 
by  nature  and  who  acquires  knowledge  from  the  love  of 
acquiring." 

6.  To  Accomplish  the  Best  Results.—"  To  accomplish 
the  best  results  the  young  student  should  be  placed  in  sur- 
roundings favorable  to  industry;  he  should  breathe  a  busy 
atmosphere.     In  the  common  school  left  to  himself  to  regu- 
late his  hours  of  study,  and  exposed  to  the  innumerable 
temptations  of  society  and  good  fellowship,  the  pupil  uncon- 
sciously or  heedlessly  loses  valuable  time.     In  a  military 
school  it  is  otherwise.     Life  is  regular  as  clock  work.     Not 
only  recitation  and  drill,  but  also  recreation,  study  and  even 
sleep  have  their  allotted   hours.     In   this  way  ^the   pupil 
learns  method  and  acquires  good  mental  habits," 


GOVERNMENT  NAVAL  SCHOOL.          435 

Admission   to  the  Qoverment  Naval 
School  at  Annapolis. 

1.  Naval  Cadets. — In  1882  an  act  of  Congress  provided 
"  that  all  the  undergraduates  at  the  naval  academy  shall 
hereafter  be  designated  and  called  '  naval  cadets,'  and  from 
these  naval  cadets  who  successfully  complete  the  six  years' 
academic  course  appointments  shall  hereafter  be  made  as 
it  is  necessary  to  fill  vacancies  in  the  lower  grades  of  the 
line  and  engineer  corps  of  the  navy,  and  of  the  marine 
corps." 

2.  Number  of  Appointments. — It  was  provided  further, 
however,  "that  no  greater  number  of  appointments  into 
these  grades  shall  be  made  each  year  than  shall  equal  the 
number  of  vacancies  which  has  occurred  in  the  same  grades 
during  the  preceding  year.    And  that  these  appointments 
to  be  made  from  the  graduates  at  the  conclusion  of  their  six 
years'  course  shall  be  in  the  order  of  merit;  the  assignment 
to  the  various  corps  .to  be  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  academic  board. 
And  if  there  be  more  graduates  than  vacancies,  those  who 
do  not  receive  appointments  in  the  service  shall  be  given  a 
certificate  of  graduation,  an  honorable  discharge  and  one 
year's  sea  pay." 

3.  The  Appointments. — Let  us  see  how  the  appoint- 
ments to  this  great  government  school  are  made,  and  the 
requirements,  both  physical  and  mental,  of  a  candidate  for 
admission.    The  revised  statutes  say:    "  That  there  shall  be 
allowed  one  naval  cadet  for  every  member  or  delegate  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  one  for  the  District  of  Col- 
umbia, and  ten  at  large.    The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  shall, 
as  soon  after  the  5th  of  March  in  each  year  as  possible, 
notify  in  writing  each  member  and  delegate  at  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  aijy  vacancy  that  may  exist  in  the 
district.    The  nomination  of  a  candidate  to  fill  said  vacancy 
shall  be  made  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  member  or 
delegate,  if  such  recommendation  is  made  by  the  first  day 
of  July  of  that  year;  but  if  it  is  not  made  by  that  time  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  shall  fill  the  vacancy." 

4.  Actual   Residents.— The  candidate  allowed  for  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  all  the  candidates  appointed  at 
large    shall  be    selected    by    the    President.    Candidates 
allowed  for  Congressional  Districts,  for  territories,  and  for 
the  District  of  Columbia  must  be  actual  residents  of  the 
districts  or  territories  respectively  from  which  they  are 
nominated. 


436 


GOVERNMENT  NAVAL  SCHOOL. 


5.  A  Candidate. — A  boy  who  has  the  appointment  in 
hand  or  in  view  should  have  himself  thoroughly  examined 
by  some  competent  physician.  It  not  frequently  happens 
that  a  candidate  who  may  be  admirably  equipped  mentally 
finds  himself  sadly  deficient  physically.  Many  a  lad  who, 
in  his  country  home,  was  the  leader  in  athletic  sports,  or 
whose  name  upon  the  village  streets  stood  for  a  prowess  of 
strength,  learns  to  his  amazement,  when  subjected  to  the 
scrutiny  of  the  board  of  surgeons,  that  he  has  some  disabil- 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  A  SEA  BATTLE. 

ity  of  which  he  never  dreamed.  Impaired  vision,  disease 
of  the  organs  of  vision,  imperfect  color  sense,  impaired 
hearing  or  disease  of  the  ear,  any  impediment  of  speech, 
loss  of  many  teeth  or  many  teeth  generally  unsound,  are 
some  of  the  conditions  that  are  sufficient  to  cause  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  candidate. 

6.  Mental  Requirements. — Next,  as  to  the  mental  re- 
quirements: All  candidates  are  to  be  examined  mentally  by 
the  academic  board  in  reading,  writing,  spelling,  arithme- 


GOVERNMENT  NAVAL  SCHOOL.  43? 

tic,  geography,  English  grammar,  United  States  history  and 
algebra.  Deficiency  in  any  of  these  subjects  will  be  sufficient 
to  insure  the  rejection  of  the  candidate.  Only  a  sketch  of 
the  mental  examination  can  be  given  within  the  limits  of 
this  article. 

7.  Reading  and  Writing. — In  reading  and  writing  can- 
didates must  be  able  to  read  understandingly  and  with 
proper  accent  and  emphasis,  and  to  write  legibly,  neatly 
and  rapidly.     In  spelling  they  must  be  able  to  write  from 
dictation  paragraphs    from    standard  pieces    of    English 
literature,  and  the  spelling  throughout  the  examination  will 
be  considered  in  marking  the  papers. 

8.  Arithmetic. — In  arithmetic  the  candidate  must  pos- 
sess such  complete  knowledge  of  the  subject  as  will  enable 
him  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  higher  branches  of  mathe- 
matics without  further  study.    The  examination  in  algebra 
will  be  elementary  in  character,  and  is  limited  to  questions 
and  problems  upon  the  fundamental  rules,  factoring,  alge- 
braic fractions,  and  simple,  equations  of  one  or  more  un- 
known quantities.  - 

9.  Grammar. — In  grammar  candidates  must  exhibit  a 
familiarity  with  all  the  parts  of  speech  and  the  rules  in  re- 
lation thereto.    They  must  be  able  to  parse  any  ordinary 
sentence  given  to  them,  and  generally  must  understand 
those  portions  of  the  subject  which  are  usually  taught  and 
comprehended  under  the  heads  of  orthography,  etymology 
and  syntax. 

10.  Descriptive    Geography. — Candidates    will  be  re- 
quired  to  pass  a  satisfactory  examination  in  descriptive 
geography,  particularly  of  our  own  country,  and  it  is  well 
for  the  candidate  to  bear  in  mind  that  his  knowledge  of  the 
geography  of  the  United  States  cannot  be  too   full    or 
specific. 

11.  History  of  the  United  States. — Candidates  should 
also  be  familiar  with  as  much  of  the  history  of  the  United 
States  as  is  contained  in  the  ordinary  school  histories. 

',12.  Where  to  Go  for  Examination. — Candidatef ,  for 
admission  to  West  Point  are  now  by  law  allowed  to  present 
themselves  at  certain  designated  army  posts  for  examina- 
tion, but  unfortunately  no  like  condition  exists  for  the  naval 
academy  candidates,  and  they  are  all  obliged  to  present 
themselves  for  examination  at  Annapolis.  Those  who  have 
been  nominated  in  time  for  them  to  reach  the  academy  by 
the  15th  of  May  will  receive  permission  to  present  them- 
selves on  that  date  to  the  superintendent  for  examination 
for  admission.  Those  that  may  not  be  nominated  in  tinv 
to  present  themselves  at  the  May  examination  will  be  ex* 
amined  on  the  first  of  September  following. 


438  U.  S.   MILITARY  ACADEMY. 

13.  Other  Requirements.— The  candidates  who  success- 
fully pass  the  mental  examination  will  be  notified  to  pre- 
sent themselves  for  their  physical  examination;  and  this 
having  been  successfully  passed,  they  receive  their  ap- 
pointments as  naval  cadets,  and  become  students  at  the 
academy.  Each  cadet  will  be  required  to  sign  articles  by 
which  he  binds  himself  to  serve  in  the  United  States  Navy 
eight  years,  including  his  time  of  probation  at  the  naval 
academy,  unless  sooner  discharged.  The  pay  of  a  naval 
cadet  is  $500  a  year,  commencing  at  the  date  of  his  admis- 
sion. Each  cadet  must,  on  admission,  deposit  with  the  pay- 
officer  about  $200,  to  be  expended  for  clothes  and  text- 
books. One  month  after  admission  each  naval  cadet  is 
credited  with  the  amount  of  his  actual  traveling  expenses 
from  his  home  to  the  naval  academy. 


United  States  Military  Academy. 

The  conception  of  a  military  academy  in  this  country 
dates  back  to  1776,  when  the  lack  of  competent  officers  for 
the  army  led  to  the  appointment  of  a  committee  by  the 
Continental  Congress  to  "prepare  and  bring  in  a  plan  of  a 
military  academy."  Washington  strongly  urged  the  mat- 
ter, and  in  1802  the  Military  Academy  was  founded  at  West 
Point.  For  years  the  results  were  very  unsatisfactory. 
There  was  a  great  lack  of  system  and  subordination;  cadets 
were  admitted  without  regard  to  age  or  qualification,  but 
under  able  and  careful  superintendents  it  to-day  meets  the 
expectations  of  the  most  hopeful. 

The  number  of  appointments,  requirements  for  admis- 
sion, examinations  and  courses  of  study  are  similar  to  those 
of  the  naval  academy  (see  page  435).  Candidates  must  be 
between  seventeen  and  twenty-two  years  old.  At  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Civil  War,  many  of  the  cadets  belonging  to 
the  southern  states  joined  the  Confederacy.  This  preju- 
diced some  against  the  Academy  for  a  time,  but  on  the 
whole  the  general  impression  and  testimony  given  is  that 
all  our  wars  since  the  founding  of  the  Academy  would  have 
lasted  much  longer  and  would  have  resulted  differently  but 
for  the  skilled  men  that  could  be  drawn  upon  in  these 
times  of  necessity. 


HOW  LAND  IS  SURVEYED.- 


439 


LAND  SURVEYS. 


How  Land  is  Surveyed. 

A.    History. — Thomas  Jefferson  and  Albert  Gallatin  are 
jpposed  to  be  the  authors  of  our  system  of  United  States 
land  surveys. 

2.  Townships. — The  land  is  first  divided  into  squares 
by  lines,  six  miles  apart.     These  squares  are  called  town- 
ships, and  a  row  of  townships  running  north  and  south  is 
called  a  range.    Townships  are  given  proper  names,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  location  they  are  designated  by  numbers. 

3.  Principal   Meridians   and   Base  Lines.  —  First  the 
surveyors  select  some  prominent  object  or  point,  and  draw- 
ing a  straight  line  north  and  south  through  this  point  make 
what  is  known  as  the  principal  meridian  line.    Then  draw- 
lijg  a  line  at  right  angles  across  the  principal  meridiqn 


440 


HOW   LAND   IS   SURVEYED. 


they  establish  what  is  called  a  base  line.  Marks  one-half 
mile  apart  are  left  on  each  of  these  lines  throughout  their 
entire  length. 

A 


7 

G 

5 

E 

4 

3 

& 

7 

6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

0 

7 

1 

a 

i 

4 

y 

5 

«; 

7 

D 


B 


Illustration:  A.  B.=Principal  Meridian.  C.  D.=Base 
Line.  The  numbers  on  the  line  A.  B.  mark  the  township 
linest  and  the  numbers  on  the  line  C.  D.  mark  the  range 
lines. 

Range  lines  are  run  north  and  south  six  miles  apart  on 
both  sides  of  the  principal  meridian  and  numbered  as 
shown  in  diagram  above.  Township  lines  are  run  six  miles 
apart,  parallel  to  the  base  line  and  numbered  as  shown 
above. 

Example:  E.  is  in  range  5,  west,  and  in  township  4, 
north,  or  30  miles  west  from  the  principal  meridian  and  24 
miles  north  of  the  base  line  (each  square  represents  a  town- 
ship six  miles  each  way).  F.  is  in  range  4,  east,  and  is  in 
township  4,  south,  or  24  miles  east  of  the  principal  meri4* 
ian  anql  18  miles  south  of  the  base 


HOW  TO  LOCATE  LAND. 


441 


How  to  Locate  Land  and  Read  and 
Write  Descriptions. 

A  township  is  36  sections,  each  a  mile  square.  A  section 
is  640  acres.  A  quarter  section,  half  a  mile  square,  is  160 
acres.  An  eighth  section,  half  a  mile  long,  north  and  south, 
and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  is  80  acres.  A  sixteenth  section, 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  square,  is  40  acres. 


NOTZTIf 


-19-; 


\3p 


20 


-16: 


33 


s: 


.2'7; 


.ll. 


24- 


A  TOWNSHIP  WITH   SECTION   LINES. 


1.  United  States  survey  ends  with  the  location  of  the 
section  lines.     Marks  are,  however,  made  by  the  surveyors 
at  the  corners  of  the  section  and  also  half-mile  marks 
between  the  corners.    By  these  marks  any  piece  of  land 
may  be  accurately  located. 

2.  Land  is  generally  bought  and  sold  in  lots  of  40  acres. 
or  80  acres  or  120  acres  or  160  acres,  etc. 


442 


UNITED  STATES   HOMESTEAD  LAWS. 
640  Acres. 


B 


Sec.  25. 

Example:  Lots  A,  B,  C  and  D,  taken  together,  are  one- 
fourth  of  the  entire  section,  and  described  as  the  N.  W.  \i 
of  Sec.  25. 

A  is  described  as  N.  W.  X  of  N.  W.  X  of  Sec.  25. 
C  D  is  described  as  S.  y2  of  N.  W.  X  of  Sec.  25. 
X  Y  is  described  as  N.  X  of  S.  E.  X  of  Sec.  25. 
Z  is  described  as  N.  E.  X  of  S.  W.  X  of  Sec.  25. 

N.  B.  Where  the  government  surveys  cannot  be  used 
a  full  description  has  to  be  written  out  by  the  county  sur- 
veyor. 


The  United  States  Homestead  Laws. 

The  laws  give  to  every  citizen,  and  to  those  who  have 
declared  their  intention  to  become  citizens,  the  right  to  a 
homestead  on  SURVEYED  lands  to  the  extent  of  one-quarter 
secti  jn,  or  160  acres;  or  a  half-qu"rter  section,  or  80  acres; 
the  former  in  cases  in  the  class  o*  ,<jvver  priced  lands,  held 
by  law  at  $1.25  per  acre,  the  latter  of  high  priced  lands, 
held  at  $2.50  per  acre,  when  disposed  of  to  cash  buyers. 
The  pre-emption  privilege  is  restricted  to  heads  of  families, 
widows,  or  single  persons  over  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

Every  soldier  and  officer  in  the  army,  and  every  seaman, 
marine  and  officer  of  the  navy  during  the  recent  rebellion, 
may  enter  160  acres  from  either  class,  and  length  of  time 
served  in  the  army  or  navy  deducted  from  the  time  required 
to  perfect  title. 


LANDS  OWNfit)  BY  FOREIGNERS. 


443 


A  MAP  SHOWING  THE  LOCATION  OF  LAND 
OWNED  BY  FOREIGNERS. 


Securities,  Property  and  Lands  Owned 
by  Foreigners. 

1.  A  Surprising  Fact.— It  is  a  surprising  fact  that  the 
chief  bureau  of  statistics  shows  that  foreign  investors  and 
syndicates  own  controlling  interests  in  many  of  our  large 
buildings  in  the  cities,  and  controlling  interest   in   many  of 
our  prominent  enterprises.    They  own  a  large  number  of 
our  factories,  breweries,  and  almost  the  majority  of  our  in- 
surance companies. 

2.  Foreign  Land  Owners  of  American  Soil. — Viscount 
Scully,  of  England,  owns  3,000,000  acres  of  land  in  Illinois, 
Iowa  and  Nebraska;   a  London  syndicate  owns  3,000,000 
acres  of  land  in  Texas;  Sir    Edward   Reid    owns  2,000,000 
acres  of  land  in  Florida;  another  English  syndicate  owns 
1,800,000  acres  in  Mississippi.      The  Anglo-American  syn- 
dicate owns  750,000  acres  in  Missouri,  Kansas  and  some  of 
the  other  western  states;  Bryan   H.   Evans  owns  700,000 
acres  in  Mississippi;  the  Duke  of  Southerland,  125,000  in  the 
southwestern  states;  the  British  Company,  320,000  acres  in 
Kansas;  the  Missouri  Land    Company,   300,000   acres   in 
Missouri;  Lord  Houghton  owns  60,000  acres  in  Florida;  the 


444 


-LAND  OWNED  BY  FOREIGNERS. 


JERRY  SIMPSON,  Ex-Member  Congress  from  Kansas. 

English  Land  Company,  50,000  acres  in  California,  and 
50,000  acres  in  Arkansas;  Alexander  Grant,  of  London, 
owns  35,000  acres  in  Kansas;  a  foreign  syndicate,  of  which 
the  Earl  of  Vemlan  and  the  Earl  of  Lankeville  are  at  the 
head,  owns  110,000  acres  in  Wisconsin;  M.  Effenhauser,  of 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  owns  600 ,000  acres  of  land  in  West 
Virginia;  a  Scotch  syndicate  owns  50,000  acres  in  Florida. 

3.  Grand  Total.— It  is  claimed    that    fully  20,000,000 
acres  of  American  soil  are  owned  by  land  owners  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  alone.    This  does  not  include  other  for- 
eign syndicates  who  own  over  7,000,000  acres  of  land  in 
other  portions  of  the  country. 

4.  The  Duties  of  the  American  Congress. — It  is  evi- 
dent that  to   allow  foreigners  to  own   such  vast  areas  of 
land  in  America  is  not  good  for  the  country.    The  revenue 
coming  from  such  land  only  enrich  foreigners  who  have  no 
interest  in  our  institutions,  only  to  reap  the  profits  from  the 
investments.     They  do  nothing  to  add  to  the  development 
and  prosperity  of  the  country;  they  are  not  interested  in 
perpetuating  our  free  institutions.     The  investments  com- 
ing from  these  vast  areas  of  land  should  be  kept  in  the 
country  to  develop  it  and  build  up  its  commercial  prosper- 
ity. 

Congress  should  pass  a  law  compelling  every  foreigner 
who  owns  land  in  America  to  reside  within  its  bound- 
aries. No  non-resident  foreigner  should  be  permitted  to 
own  our  valuable  soil. 


446      RIGHT  PRINCIPLES  OF  CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM. 

The  Right  Principles  of  Civil  Service 
Reform. 

1.  An  /ict  of  Congress. — The  ninth  section  of  an  act  of 
Congress  approved  March  3,   1871,  and  entitled  "An  Act 
making  appropriations  for  sundry  civil  expenses  of  the 
government  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  thirtieth,  eighteen 
hundred  and  seventy-two,  and  for  other  purposes,"  provides, 
"That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  and  he  is  hereby 
authorized  to  prescribe  such  rules  and  regulations  for  the 
admission  of  persons  into  the  Civil  Service  of  the  United 
States  as  will  best  promote  the  efficiency  thereof,  and  as- 
certain the  fitness  of  each  candidate  in  respect   to   age, 
health,  character,  knowledge,  and  ability  for  the  branch  of 
service  into  which  he  seeks  to  enter;  and  for  this  purpose 
the  President  is  authorized  to  employ  suitable  persons  to 
conduct  said  inquiries,  to  prescribe  their  duties  and  to  es- 
tablish regulations  for  the  conduct  of  persons  who  may  re 
ceive  appointments  in  the  civil  service." 

2.  Three  Parts.— The    public    service  of   the  United 
States  is  divided  into  three  branches — the  Civil,  Military 
and  Naval.    The  Civil  Service  may  be  defined  as  that  which 
is  neither  Military  nor  Naval,  and  comprises  all  the  offices 
by  which  the  civil  administration  is  carried  on. 

3.  The  Appointing  Power. — The  Constitution  author- 
izes each  House  of  Congress  to  choose  its  own  officers.    It 
empowers    the  President  to  nominate  and,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  appoint  certain 
officers  who  are  mentioned  by  name,  and  all  other  officers 
whose  appointments  are  not  otherwise  provided  for  in  the 
Constitution,  and  which  shall  be  established  by  lawr      It 
authorizes  Congress"  to  vest,  by  law,  the  appointment  of 
such  inferior  officers  as  it  may  think  proper  in  the  President 
alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 
The  courts  of  law  appoint  their  own  officers.  The  President 
alone  appoints  very  few,  and  they  are  mainly  of  an  honorary 
character.    Those  who  are  appointed  by  the  President,  by 
and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  are  in  num- 
ber about  3,000.    The  other  inferior  officers,  about  50,000  in 
number,  are  appointed  by  the  heads  of  departments,  some- 
times directly,  sometimes  upon  the  nomination  of  another 
officer. 

4.  Early  Appointments. — During  the  early  administra- 
tions   appointments   were  made    from    considerations    of 
character  ,and  fitness,  and  removals  took  place  for  cause. 
This  practice  as  it  was  the  wisest  and  most  reasonable,  was 


RIGHT  PRINCIPLES  OF  ClVIL  SERVICE  REFORM.      447 

also  to  be  expected,  because  Washington  having  been 
unanimously  elected  to  the  Presidency,  party  divisions,  as 
we  know  them,  were  developed  only  toward  the  close  of 
his  administration.  He  required  of  applicants  proofs  of 
ability,  integrity  and  fitness.  "Beyond  this,'*  he  said, 
"nothing  with  me  is  necessary  or  will  be  of  any  avail  to 
them  in  my  decision."  John  Adams  made  few  removals 
and  those  for  cause.  Jefferson  said  that  the  pressure  to 
remove  was  like  a  torrent.  But  he  resisted  it  and  declared 
in  his  famous  phrase,  that  "  the  only  questions  concerning  a 
candidate  shall  be,  Is  he  honest?  Is  he  capable?  Is  he  faith- 
ful to  the  Constitution  ?"  Madison,  Monroe  and  John  Quincy 
Adams  followed  him  so  faithfully  that  the  Joint  Congression- 
al Committee  upon  Retrenchment  reported  in  1868  that, 
having  consulted  all  accessible  means  of  information  they 
had  not  learned  of  a  single  removal  of  a  subordinate  officer 
except  for  cause  from  the  beginning  of  Washington's 
administration  to  the  close  of  that  of  John  Quincy  Adams. 

5.  The  Motto. — Senator  Marcy,  of  New  York,  first  used 
the  famous  phrase  in  reference  to  the  offices  of  the  Civil 
Service:  "To  the  victor  belong  the  spoils  of  the  enemy." 
From  that  time  it  has  been  practically  the  motto  of  the 
administration  of  every  party.   As  its  evil  results  have  been 
observed,  various  efforts  have  been  made  to  obviate  them. 
But  the  practice  has  become  a  tradition  which  was  not  readily 
disturbed.     No  measures  for  a  general  reform  were  taken 
until  the  close  of  the  Forty-first  Congress  when,  upon  the 
positive  recommendation  of  the  President,  the  section  of  the 
act  given  on  previous  page  was  passed. 

6.  Whole  Machinery  of  the  Government  is  Pulled  to 
Pieces    Every   Four    Years. — Political    caucuses,  primary 
meetings  and  conventions  are  controlled  by  the  promise  and 
the  expectation  of  patronage.     Political  candidates  for  the 
lowest  or  the  highest  positions  are  directly  or  indirectly 
pledged.  The  pledge  is  the  price  of  the  nomination,and  when 
the  election  is  determined  pledges  must  be  redeemed.     The 
business  of  the  nation,  the  legislation  of  Congress,  the  duties 
of  the  departments,  are  all  subordinated  to  the  distribution 
of  what  is  well  called  "the  spoils."    No  one  escapes.     Presi- 
dent,   secretaries,    senators,  representatives   are    pertina- 
ciously dogged  and  besought  on  the  one  hand  to  appoint, 
on  the  other  to  retain,  subordinates.    The  great  officers  of 
the  government  are  constrained  to  become  mere  office- 
brokers.     Meantime,  they  may  have  their  own  hopes,  ambi- 
tions and  designs.    They  may  strive  to  make  their  patron- 
age secure  their  private  aims.    The  spectacle  is  as  familial 
as  it  is  painful  and  humiliating. 


THE  SUCCESSFUL  CANDIDATE. 
To  the  Victor  Belong  the  Spoils. 

448 


RIGHT  PRINCIPLES  OF  CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM.       449 

7.  The  Evil  Results.— The  evil  results  of  the  practice 
may  be  seen,  first,  in  its  perversion  of  the  nature  of  the 
election  itself.     In  a  free  country  an  election  is  intended  to 
be,  and  of  right  should  be,  the  choice  of  differing  policies  of 
administration  by  the  people  at  the  polls.    It   is  properly 
the  judgment  of  the  popular  intelligence  upon  the  case 
which  has  been  submitted  to  it  during  the  canvass  by  the 
ablest  and  most  eloquent  advocates.     But  the  evil  system 
under  which  the  country  suffers  tends  to  change  the  election 
from  a  choice  of  policies  into  a  contest  for  personal  advan- 
tage.   It  is  becoming  a  desperate  conflict  to  obtain  all  the 
offices,  with  all  their  lawful  salaries  and  all  their  unlawful 
chances.    The  consequences  are  unavoidable.    The  moral 
tone  of  the  country  is  debased.    The  national  character 
deteriorates.    No  country  or  government  can  safely  tolerate 
such  a  surely  increasing  demoralization. 

8.  Honorable  Men. — There  are   honorable    men  who 
enter  the  service  with  the  sincerest  purpose  of  doing  their 
duty,  but  the  evil  condition  of  the  system  forces  them  often 
to  profess  what  they  do  not  believe,  and  in  a  manner  which 
is  repugnant  to  them.    They  do  not  have  that  pride  in  the 
Civil  Service  of  the  country  which  distinguishes  the  Military 
and  Naval  Services.    For  how  can  a  position  so  often  pro- 
cured without  proved  qualification,  and  so  often  lost  without 
fault,  appeal  to  the  desire  or  the  ambition  of  worthy  men? 
There  are  modest  and  honest  and  able  citizens  enough  who 
would  gladly  serve  the  country  for  a  moderate  and  perma- 
nent salary,  and  who  are  the  very  servants  the  country 
needs;  but  they  decline  to  enter  upon  competition,  not  of 
excellence,  but  of  influence;  a  competition  in  which  actual 
qualification  does  not  determine  the  result.    The  conditions 
of  the  service  are  such  that  they  cannot  avoid  the  feeling 
that  their  minds  are  often  regarded  as  mortgaged,  their 
opinions  as  hired. 

9.  Criticism  Upon  the  System. — Nor  is  this  surprising 
when  it  is  remembered  that  a  bill  was  introduced  into  Con- 
gress not  long  ago  forbidding  the  minor  officers  in  the  Civil 
Service  the  usual  political  liberty  of  all  American  citizens 
to  serve  as  delegates  in  political  conventions  or  as  members 
of  political  committees.     It  is  the  sharpest  criticism  upon 
the  system  that  it  is  held  to  unfit  a  citizen  for  the  honest 
discharge  of  his  political  duties.  ^And  there  is  no  one  who 
is  familiar  with  its  practical  operation  who  does  not  feel  that 
there  was  reason  in  the  proposition. 

10.  The  Mischief. — But  the  mischief  does  not  end  here. 
When  public  offices  arc  regarded  only  as  rewards  for 
political  service,  they  will  be  constantly  multiplied  to  sup* 


450       RIGHT  PRINCIPLES  OF  CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM. 

ply  more  places.  There  will  be  incessant  temporary  em« 
ployments,  as  they  are  called,  and  consequent  deficiency 
bills  and  supplementary  appropriation  bills.  Meanwhile, 
the  influence  which  has  obtained  the  office,  not  for  the  pub- 
lic service,  but  as  a  private  reward,  will  be  slow  to  see 
inefficiency  or  actual  dishonesty  in  the  conduct  of  the 
incumbent.  The  tendency  will  be  to  disbelieve  and  to 
excuse  and  to  postpone  inquiry;  so  that  under  this  system 
not  only  are  useless  offices  created,  but  there  is  the  strong- 
est temptation  to  conceal  corruption,  and  abuses  and  ex- 
travagances, resulting  from  a  multiplication  of  such  offices, 
are  constantly  increasing. 

11.  A  Good  and  a  Bad  System  of  the  Civil  Service. — It 
is  not  possible  to  compute  in  figures  the  exact  economical 
difference  between  a  good  and  a  bad  system  of  the  Civil 
Service.    It  is  necessarily  a  matter  of  inference  and  of  com- 
parison between  the  probable  operation  of  a  careless  and  a 
careful  method.     But  it  is  estimated,  by  those  who  have 
made  a  careful  study  of  all  the  facts,  that  one-fourth  of  the 
revenues  of  the  United  States  is  annually  lost  in  the  collec- 
tion, and  for  a  large  part  of  that  loss  a  system  of  the  service 
which  is  fatally  unsound  may  reasonably  be  held  responsi- 
ble. 

12.  Long  and  Annoying  Resistance. — Even  if  the  ap- 
pointing power  declare  that  it  prefers  a  certain  person, 
peculiarly  fitted  for  the  place,  the  appointment  is,  never- 
theless, demanded  or  contested  as  of  right  by  the  friends  of 
other  persons.     If  the  appointing  power  persists,  and  the 
place  is  filled  as  it  prefers,  it  is  only  after  a  long  and  an- 
noying resistance  to  pressure.  But  should  it  be  the  head  of  a 
department  who  has  some  measure  before  Congress  for  which 
he  wishes  every  vote  that  he  can  procure,  there  is  a  power- 
ful temptation  to  yield  the  appointment  in  order  to  secure 
the  vote.    Thus  the  evil  system  increases  official  tempta- 
tion and  makes  honesty  difficult;  and  it  is  not  surprising  that 
a  bill  was  recently  introduced  into  Congress  making  it  a 
penal  offense  for  members  of  Congress  to  importune  the 
appointing  power  for  places. 

13.  Civil  Service  by  Promotion. — Admission   to  the 
higher  grades  of  employment  in  the  Civil  Service  by  pro- 
motion is  cardinal  condition  of  a  sound  system.    When  it  is 
understood  that  good  character  and  superior  fitness  procure 
entrance  to  office,  and  that  the  tenure  is  dependent  upon 
condition,  and  that  conduct  and  ability  determine  promo- 
tion, the   desire  of  entering  a  service  which  thus  offers  a 
career  to  honorable  ambition  will  naturally  be  felt  by  many 
who  command  no  political  influence,  and  who  do  not  care 


RIGHT  PRINCIPLES  OF  CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM.       451 

to  enter  now.  At  present  all  the  advantages  of  promotion 
in  stimulating  zeal  and  fidelity  are  lost,  because  there  is 
practically  no  system  of  promotion.  The  most  industrious 
and  competent  officers  constantly  see  others,  inexperienced 
and  often  incompetent,  suddenly  brought  into  the  service 
from  the  outside  and  placed  above  them.  It  is  dishearten- 
ing to  the  officer  and  dangerous  to  the  service,  because  how- 
ever bad  the  present  practice  may  be,  and  however  illogical 
under  that  practice  to  expect  merit  to  be  regarded,  vet  the 
simple  fact  that  there  is,  and  can  be  but  one  true  principle 
of  a  good  service,  will  constantly  assert  itself  in  the  mind 
of  the  incumbent.  The  prospect  of  promotion  by  merit, 
upon  the  other  hand,  will  quietly  animate  every  officer  to 
such  discharge  of  his  duty  that  there  will  be  constant  com- 
petition of  excellence. 

14.  Promotion  of  Merit. — Carrying  the  same  principle 
further,  and  seeking  to  obtaiji  all  the  advantage  which  pro- 
motion by  merit  offers,  it  seems  to  us  desirable  to  open 
every  vacancy  in  the  higher  grades  of  offices  to  the  free  com- 
petition of  applicants  from  all  the  lower  grades  of  the  same 
offices.     Promotion,  indeed,  is  often  thought  to  be  limited 
to  an  advance  from  one  step  to  the  next  higher.     But  if 
promotion  by  mere  seniority  be  abandoned,  if  it  be  under- 
stood that  any  one  who  is  properly  qualified  to  enter  at  the 
lowest  point  may,  whenever  the  vacancy  occurs,  compete 
for  the  highest,  not  only  is  the  best  fitness  secured  for  the 
highest  point,  but  better  men  are  attracted  to  enter  at  the 
lowest. 

15.  The  Services  of  any  Honest  and  Able  Man.— The 
country  is  entitled  to  the  services  of  any  honest  and  able 
man  who  may  wish  to  serve  it.  We  propose  that  every  person 
who,  after  due  public  notice,  shall  present  himself  at  the  time 
and  place  designated  for  the  purpose,  shall  be  examined. 
But  he  must  have  satisfactorily    proved    that   he    is   of 
good  character,  of    suitable    age,    and    in    sound    health. 
He  must  also  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  be 
able  satisfactorily  to  speak,  read  and  write  the  English 
language. 

16.  Competitive  Examinations. — The  Civil  Service  re- 
form must  sooner  or  later  apply  the  principles  of  fitness  and 
merit  and  qualifications  for  office.  The  Civil  Service  as  far  as 
it  applies  to  written  recommendations  and  promotions  ac- 
cording to  qualification  has  worked  wonderful  results  in  this 
system  and  other  departments  of  the  government,  and  if  the 
system  be  extended  so  as  to  apply  to  the  candidates  for  office 
to  be  filled  by  appointment,  the  government  service  will  be 
not  only  better,  but  will  be  more  economically  conducted. 


452  CIVIL  SERVICE   RULES. 

17.  The  Purpose  of  Examination.— The  purpose  of  the 
examination  is  to  ascertain  the  fitness  of  the  applicant  for 
the  position  that  he  seeks.  But  a  mere  pass  or  standard 
examination,  that  is,  an  examination  which  requires  of  the 
applicant  only  the  ability  to  pass  an  easy  line  and  to  be- 
come one  of  many  from  who  the  appointment  is  to  be  made, 
is  an  examination  which  constantly  tends,  under  the  pres- 
sure of  patronage,  to  become  a  mere  form,  such  as  many 
that  are  now  held  in  custom-houses  and  elsewhere.  If,  how- 
ever, the  applicant  knows  that  he  must  not  only  pass  the 
line,  but  pass  it  so  as  to  be  ranked  among  the  two  or  three 
highest  of  his  associates,  proficiency  alone  will  determine 
the  result.  The  most  powerful  patronage  cannot  make  its 
candidate  really  quicker  or  more  intelligent  than  competi- 
tors who  may  present  themselves  with  no  patronage  what- 
ever. Its  only  hope,  then,  is  to  corrupt  the  examiners  to 
permit  collusion,  and  the  possibility  of  collusion  is  to  be 
obviated  by  the  details  of  methods  of  examination  and  cer- 
tificate. The  honest  competitive  examination  is  the  only 
fundamental  security  against  the  power  of  mere  patronage, 
because,  without  regard  to  irrelevant  influences,  it  selects 
not  those  who  are  most  strongly  urged  but  those  who  are 
most  fully  qualified. 

United  States  Civil  Service  Rules. 

The  purpose  of  the  Civil  Service  Act,  as  declared  in  its 
title,  is  "to  regulate  and  improve  the  Civil  Service  of  the 
United  States. '  It  provides  for  the  appointment  of  three 
Commissioners,  a  Chief  Examiner,  a  Secretary,  and  other 
employes  and  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  Commission  to  aid 
the  President  as  he  may  request  in  preparing  suitable  rules 
for  carrying  the  act  into  effect;  to  make  regulations  for  and 
control  the  examinations  provided  for,  and  supervise  and 
control  the  records  of  the  same;  and  to  make  investigations 
and  report  upon  all  matters  touching  the  enforcement  and 
effect  of  the  rules  and  regulations.  The  address  of  the 
Commission's  Washington,  D.  C.  The  president  of  the 
Commission  is  John  R.  Procter;  the  secretary  is  JohnT.  Doyle. 

The  service  classified  under  the  act,  and  to  which  it  and 
the  rules  apply,  embraces  the  Executive  Departments  at 
Washington,  the  Department  of  Labor,  the  Fish  Commis- 
sion, and  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  the  observers  in  the 
Weather  Service,  the  customs  districts  in  each  of  which 
there  are  fifty  or  more  employes,  eleven  in  number;  all  free- 
delivery  postoffices,  now  610  in  number;  the  Railway^  Mail 


CIVIL  SERVICE  RULES. 


453 


Service,  and  the  Indian  School  Service,  including  alto- 
gether about  43,000  places,  or  about  one-fourth  in  point  of 
numbers  and  one-half  in  importance  and  in  salaries  of  the 
entire  Civil  Service. 

The  Classified  Departmental  Service  embraces  all  places 
in  the  Departments  at" Washington,  excepting  messengers, 
laborers,  workmen  and  watchmen  (not  including  any  person 
designated  as  a  skilled  laborer  or  workman),  and  no  person 
so  employed  can,  without  examination  under  the  rules,  be 


Not  Recognized. 


assigned  to  clerical  duty,  and  also  excepting  those  ap- 
pointed by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  con- 
sent of  the  Senate.  The  Classified  Customs  Service  at  the 
eleven  ports  embraces  the  places  giving  $900  a  year,  and  all 
those  giving  a  larger  salary  where  the  appointee  is  not  sub- 
ject to  confirmation  by  the  Senate.  The  Classified  Postal 
Service  embraces  all  places  above  the  grade  of  a  laborer 
except  the  postmaster.  The  Classified  Railway  Mail  Serv- 
ice embraces  all  employes  of  the  Railway  Mail  Service. 


454  CIVIL  SERVICE   HULL 

The  Classified  Indian  Service  embraces  all  physicians, 
school  superintendents  and  assistant  superintendents, 
school  teachers  and  matrons  in  the  Indian  Service.  Certain 
of  the  places  within  the  Classified  Service  are  excepted 
from  examination  by  the  Civil  Service  rules,  and  may  be 
filled  in  the  discretion  of  the  appointing  officers  without  ex- 
amination; a  few  other  places  may  be  so  filled,  but  the  great 
mass  of  the  places  are  filled  by  competitive  examination. 

For  places  in  the  Classified  Service  where  technical 
qualifications  are  needed  special  examinations  are  held.  In 
the  Departmental  Service  they  are  held  for  the  State  De- 
partment, the  Pension,  Patent  and  Signal  offices,  Geological 
and  Coast  Surveys  and  other  offices. 

APPLICATIONS. 

Applicants  for  examination  must  be  citizens  of  the  United 
States  of  the  proper  age.  No  person  habitually  using  intox- 
icating liquors  can  be  appointed.  No  discrimination  is 
made  on  account  of  sex,  color  or  political  or  religious  opin- 
ions. The  limitations  of  age  are:  For  the  Departmental 
Service,  not  under  twenty  years;  in  the  Customs  Service, 
not  under  twenty-one  years,  except  clerks  or  messengers, 
who  must  not  be  under  twenty  years;  in  the  Postal  Service, 
not  under  eighteen  years,  except  carriers,  who  must  not  be 
under  twenty-one  or  over  forty,  and  in  the  Railway  Mail 
Service  not  under  eighteen  or  over  thirty-five  years.  The 
age  limitations  do  not  apply  to  any  person  honorably  dis- 
charged from  the  Military  or  Naval  Service  of  the  United 
States  by  reason  of  disability  resulting  from  wounds  or  sick- 
ness incurred  in  the  line  of  duty.  Such  persons  are  pre- 
ferred in  appointments  under  §1,754,  R.  S.,  and  certified  to 
appointing  officers  before  all  others  of  higher  grade. 

Every  one  seeking  to  be  examined  must  first  file  an  ap- 
plication blank.  The  blank  for  the  Departmental,  Railway 
Mail,  or  Indian  School  Service  should  be  requested  directly 
of  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  at  Washington.  The  blank 
for  the  Customs  or  Postal  Service  must  be  requested  in 
writing  by  the  persons  desiring  examination  of  the  Customs 
or  Postal  Board  of  Examiners  at  the  office  where  service  is 
sought.  These  papers  should  be  returned  to  the  officers 
from  whom  they  emanated. 

EXAMINATIONS. 

The  applicants  to  enter  the  services  designated  are  ex- 
amined as  to  their  relative  capacity  and  fitness.  The  ordi- 
nary clerical  examinations  are  used  only  in  the  Customs  and 


CIVIL   SERVICE   RULES.  455 

Departmental  Services  for  clerkships  of  $1,000  and  upward 
requiring  no  peculiar  information  or  skill.  They  are  lim- 
ited to  the  following  subjects:  First,  orthography,  penman- 
ship and  copying;  second,  arithmetic — fundamental  rules, 
fractions,  and  percentage;  third,  interest  and  discount,  ele- 
ments of  bookkeeping  and  accounts;  fourth,  elements  of 
the  English  language,  letter-writing,  arid  the  proper  con- 
struction of  sentences.  For  places  in  which  a  lower  degree 
of  education  suffices,  as  for  employes  in  postoffices,  and 
those  below  the  grade  of  clerks  in  custom  houses  and  in  the 
Departments  at  Washington,  the  Commission  limits  the  ex 
aminationtoless  than  these  four  subjects,  omitting  the  third 
and  parts  of  the  fourth  subject.  No  one  is  certified  for  ap- 
pointment whose  standing  in  the  examination  is  less  than 
70  percentum  of  complete  proficiency,  except  that  appli- 
cants claiming  military  or  naval  preference  under  §1,754  R. 
S.,  need  obtain  but  65. 

The  law  also  prescribes  competitive  examinations  to  test 
the  fitness  of  persons  in  the  service  for  promotion  therein. 
The  Commission  gives  a  certificate  to  the  person  examined, 
stating  whether  he  passed  or  failed  to  pass. 

APPOINTMENTS. 

When  there  is  a  vacancy  to  be  filled,  the  appointing  ofrV» 
cer  applies  to  the  Commission  or  proper  examining  board, 
and  it  reports  to  him  the  names  of  the  three  persons  of  the 
sex  called  for  graded  highest  on  the  proper  register  of  those 
in  his  branch  of  the  service  and  remaining  eligible,  and 
from  the  three  a  selection  must  be  made.  In  the  Depart- 
mental Service  appointments  are  apportioned  among  the 
states  on  the  basis  of  population. 

Every  appointment  is  made  for  a  probationary  period  of 
six  months,  at  the  end  of  which  time,  if  the  conduct  and 
capacity  of  the  person  appointed  have  been  found  satisfac- 
tory, the  appointment  is  made  absolute.  There  is  a  con- 
stant demand  for  men  stenographers  and  typewriters.  The 
number  of  women  applying  for  clerical  places  is  greatly  in 
excess  of  the  needs  of  the  service. 

The  following  are  excepted  from  examination  for  ap- 
pointment: Confidential  clerks  of  heads  of  departments  or 
offices,  cashiers  of  collectors  and  postmasters,  superintend- 
ents of  money-order  divisions  in  postoffices,  custodians  of 
money  for  whose  fidelity  another  officer  is  under  bond,  dis- 
bursing officers  who  give  bonds,  persons  in  the  secert  serv- 
ice, deputy  collectors  and  superintendents  and  chiefs  of 
divisions  of  bureaus,  and  a  few  others. 


456 


GOVERNMENT   OF    LARGE   CITIES. 


REV.  DR.  PARKHURST. 

The  Serious  Problems  of  Government 
in  Large  Cities. 

i.    The  Dangers  That  Threaten  American  Liberty.— 

he  danger  that  threatens  American  liberty  comes  largely 
-rom  the  foreign  population  in  our  large  cities.  The  cities 
are  increasing  rapidly  and  most  of  the  present  unrest  and 
discontent  of  the  people  comes  from  our  cities.  The  most 
serious  problem  that  the  American  people  must  soon  be 
called  upon  to  solve  will  be  the  settlement  or  adjustment  of 


PROBLEMS   OP   GOVERNMENT   IN   LARGE 'CITIES.       457 

the  discontent  in  our  large  cities.  One  of  the  greatest  safe- 
guards is  to  encourage  every  laborer  to  secure  a  home  of 
his  own.  As  soon  as  he  secures  some  property  his  interest 
in  the  government  and  law  will  be  materially  changed.  The 
dangers  of  the  American  cities  are  the  foreign  population 
which  are  rapidly  controlling  every  form  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment. 

2.  The  Growth  of  American  Cities  Twice  as  Rapid  as 
That  of  the  Whole  Population.— It  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
many  who  can  not  be  suspected  of  want  of  zeal  for  the  suc- 
cess of  Democracy  in  the  United  States  are  thrown  into 
grave  doubts  as  to  the  future  of  our  system  by  its  imperfect 
success  in  our  large  cities.  The  lesson  of  history  in  the  past 
has  been  that  great  cities  are  among  the  chief  dangers  of 
Democracy.     I  am  no  alarmist.     My  business  is  not  agita- 
tion.    But  I  confess  that  I  consider  this  lesson  of  history  as 
to  democracies,  when  put  side  by  side  with  the  facts  that 
we  are  and  are  to  be  a  nation  of  great  cities,  something  that 
should  bring  thoughtful  men  to  a  pause.    We  hear  daily 
enough,  and  more  than  enough,  of  the  corruptions  of  our 
great  cities.     But  it  is  not  so  commonly  noticed  that  popula- 
tion increases  in  our  cities  with  vastly  greater  rapidity  than 
elsewhere. 

3.  Predominate  in  Influence. — If  it  were  perfectly  cer- 
tain that  half  of  the  civilized  world  was  henceforth  to  live  in 
cities  and  large  towns,  it  would  not  be  uncertain  which  half 
of  the  world  would  predominate  in  influence  over  the  other 
half,  the  part  in  the  towns  or  the  part  out  of  the  towns.     It 
would  not  be  uncertain  either,  that  the  management  of  large 
towns  would  become  a  problem  of  the  first  importance  in 
civilization.    Nor  would  it  be  uncertain  that  the  manage- 
ment of  the  towns  on  the  Democratic  principle  would  have 
extraordinary  difficulties.      Now,  I  believe  it  capable  of 
being  made  very  probable  that  the  tendency  of  the  applica- 
tion of  the  discoveries  of  the  railway  and  the  telegraph  to 
create    centers    and    facilitate   intercommunication,  must 
cause  a  vastly  increased  percentage  of  the  civilized  world  to 
live  henceforth  in  cities  and  large  towns. 

4.  Much  as  Cities  do  for  Virtue  They  do   More  for 
Vice. — It  is  evident  that  the  problem  of  the  perishing  and 
dangerous  classes  must  grow  in  importance  with  every 
increase  of  the  growth  and  numbers  of  great  cities.    Such 
has  been  the  entire  experience  of  modern  as  of  ancient 
civilization.    I  do  not  forget  for  an  instant  that  the  massing 
of  men  gives  greater  opportunities  to  virtue.     Heaven  for- 
bid that  we  should  fail  to  remember,  in  view  of  the  perilous 
future,  any  part  of  the  influence  of  the  tendency  of  men  in 
cities  to  stimulate  the  press,  the  pulpit,  and  the    school. 


4&8        PROBLEMS  OF  GOVERNMENT  IN  LARGE  CITIES. 

5.  Stern  Truth  of  History. — But  it  is  the  notorious,  stern 
truth  of  history  that  much  as  cities  do  for  virtue,  they  do 
vastly  more  for  vice.    You  doubt  this?.  Would  that  the  proof 
were  not  so  near  home!    One-half  the  criminals  of  Massa- 
chusetts, for  example,  are  found  in  Boston.     Mr.  Phillips 
has  shown  that  for  ten  years  the  returns  proved  that  42 
per  cent,   of  the  population  of  the  county    was    arrested 
tor  crime,  while  in  other  counties  the  number  was  only  1, 
2,  or  3  per  cent.    This  is  the  result  of  massing  up  here  prop- 
erty and  population.     It  is  a  part  of  the  operation  or  the 
inevitable  laws  of   human  nature  in  the  present  state  of 
human  culture,  and  in  the  present  arrangements  of  philan- 
thropic endeavor.    Boston  has  one-half  the  criminals  of 
Massachusetts,  and  yet  only  one-sixth  of  the  population. 

6.  Bad  Politics. — There  are  not  two  cities  on  the  conti* 
nent  of  over  200,000  inhabitants  in  which  the  local  elections 
are  not  in  the  control  of  the  perishing  and  dangerous  classes. 
Consider,  secondly,  the  power  of  a  corrupt  city  population 
to  subsidize  the  city  press  and  thus  poison  the  fountains  of 
political  influence  for  the  country  at  large.    Let  fall  here 
the  light  of  the  Gorgon's  head. 

7.  New  York  City. — New  York  City  is  not  an  American 
city.    For  over  50,000  voters  there  of  native  birth  there  are 
70,000  of  foreign.     No  American  city  could  be  managed  as 
New  York  is.    What  is  true  of  New  York  City  is  true  9f  our 
other  large  cities  in  the  United  States,  they  are  largely 
being  ruled  by  the  foreigners,  people  who  have  little  regard 
for  the  social,  political  or  religious  institutions  of  the  coun- 
try.   They  hold  the  balance  of  power  and  largely  rule  every 
American  city.    In  many  of  the  riots  of  1894  there  were 
hardly  enough  American  born  citizens  to  act  as  interpreters 
for  the  rioters. 

8.  Power  of  the  Whiskey  Ring  to  Control  City  Elec- 
tions.— Nor,  in  the  fourth  place,  need  I  pause  upon   the 
proof  that  the  chief  perils  from  the  perishing  and  dangerous 
classes  in  great  cities  arise  from  intemperance  and  its  asso- 
ciated vices.    When  the  subject  of  a  municipal  police  was 
first  brought  before  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  this  prop- 
osition was  discussed  in  a  scholarly  way,  and  Mr.  Phillips 
repeatedly  presented  this  single  point  in  a  popular  way 
He  was  hissed  for  going  so  far  as  to  assert  that  for  twenty 
years  ine  mayor  and  aldermen  of  Boston  have  been  but  a 
committee  of  the  places  for  gambling  and  of  the  liauoi 
shops  of  the  peninsula.    The  year  1900  will  not  hiss  Wei* 
dell  Phillips. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Issues  of  the  Day. 

A  COMPLETE  HISTORY  OF  STRIKES. 

1.  American  History. — It   is  the    very  generally    ac- 
cepted opinion  that  the  disturbance  in  New  York  City,  in 
1803,  popularly  known  as  the  "sailors'  strike,"  was  the 
earliest  example  of  the  strike  known  in  this  country.     This 
opinion  may  be  authoritatively  controverted  by  facts,  which 
afford  proof  of  a  series  of  strikes  among  the  boot  and  shoe 
makers  of  Philadelphia,  beginning  in  1796,  and   make  it 
reasonably  certain  that  a  strike  occurred  among  the  bakers 
of  New  York  City  as  early  as  1741. 

2.  Strikes  Grew. — From  these  beginnings  the  practice 
of  striking  by  employes  who  desired  some  concession  regard- 
ing their  wages,  or  were  otherwise  dissatisfied  with  the  con- 
ditions under  which  they  worked,  grew,  until  in  1835  strikes 
had  become  so  numerous  as  to  call  forth  remonstrant  com- 
ments from  the  public  press,  the  New  York  Daily  Adver- 
tiser, on  June  6,  observing  that  "strikes  are  all  the  fashion," 
and  that  "it  is  an  excellent  time  for  the  journeymen  to  come 
from  the  country  to  the  city. "     From  this  period  up  to  the 
present  time  strikes  have  been  common,  their  frequency 
depending  upon  the  industrial  conditions  which  prevailed. 

3.  Strikes  in  England. — History  shows  that  strikes  took 
place  shortly  after  the  plague  of  1 349.     The  crops  then  rotted 
on  the  ground  for  lack  of  reapers ;  whole  flocks  and  herds 
perished  for  want  of  care-takers,  houses  were  left  unfinished 
by  the  builders,  even  the  workmen  employed  at  the  King's 
palace  deserted  their  business,  and  unless  for  wages  which 
were  considered  "outrageous,"  labor  was  not  to  be  had  in 
country  or  town.     These  strikes  in  the  fourteenth  century 
were  encountered  with  measures  which  illustrate  the  funda- 
mental differences  between  medieeval  and  modern  political 
economy. 


460 


A  COMPLETE  HISTORY  OF  STRIKES.  461 

4.  Statute  of  Labor.— A  statute  of  labor  was  passed, 
Ordaining  that  every  man  and  woman,  free  or  bond,  within 
the  age  of  threescore  years,  and  not  having  landed  property 
or  other  means  of  livelihood,  should  work  for  any  employer 
requiring  their  labor  at  the  old  rate  of  wages.    This  statute 
was  followed  by  a  series  of  enactments,  royal  mandates,  and 
municipal  regulations  rigorously  suppressing  combinations 
of  workmen,  and  inflicting  fines,  imprisonment,  and  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  stocks  on  all  artificers,  laborers,  and  servants 
refusing  to  serve  for  the  ancient  wages,  or  even  leaving  the 
village  or  town  wherein  they  had  hitherto  dwelt. 

5.  Conflicting  Facts. — In  place  of  new  restraints  on  the 
movements  and  combination  of  workmen,  old  restrictions 
have  been  repealed,  trades-unions  have  been  legalized,  and 
the  classes  most  opposed  to  strikes  have  contented  them- 
selves with  denouncing  them  as  at  once  mischievous  and 
ineffectual.    On  the  last  point  the  actual  results  have  been 
conflicting.     Many  strikes  have  been  successful  in  raising 
wages  or  reducing  the  hours  of  work,  but  on  the  other  hand 
many  have  failed;  in  not  a  few  cases  it  has  been  demon- 
strated that  the  state  of  trade,  prices  and  profits  left  no 
margin  for  compliance  with  the  demands  of  the  workmen, 
and  in  some  it  is  certain  that  employers  were  positive  gain- 
ers by  the  suspension  of  business.    These  conflicting  facts, 
and  the  public  attention  which  strikes  have  engaged,  have 
led  to  a  whole  literature  on  the  subject,  but  the  matter  of  it 
may  be  stated  in  a  few  words. 

6.  Wise  Propositions. — The   proposition  which    may 
with  best  reason  be  affirmed  is  that  the  chief  benefit  to  the 
working  classes  from  past  strikes  is  that  they  have  contrib- 
uted to  bring  about  measures  which,  besides  other  beneficial 
results,  tend  to  prevent  their  occurrence  in  the  future.    Co- 
operation, industrial  partnership  of  capitalists  and  work- 
men in  various  forms,  boards  of  conciliation  and  arbitration, 
wiser  rules  and  policy  on  the  part  of  trades-unions,  all  owe 
something  to  the   lessons  learned    from   the  strikes.     No 
panacea  is  likely  to  be  discovered  in  our  age  which  will  put 
an  end  altogether  to  disputes  between  labor  and  capital, 
but  something  has  already  been  done  to  render  their  rela- 
tions more  harmonious  in  many  trades. 

7.  Expense  of  Strikes. — In  1883  Mr.  Adolph  Strasser, 
the  president  of  the  Cigar   Makers'  International  Union, 
testified  before  the  United  States  Senate  Committee  on  Labor 
and  Capital  that  there  had  then  been  362  strikes  among  the 
cigar  makers  recognized  by  his  organization,  of  which  204 
were  successful,  137  lost,  12  compromised,  and  10  then  in 
progress.    The  expenditures  for  the  strikes  amounted  to 

30 


462 


THE  GREAT  PULLMAN  STRIKE.  463 

$1,800,000  per  annum,  and  the  reductions  prevented,  to  at 
least  $500,000  per  annum.  Prof.  Sartprius  von  Walters- 
hausen  has  made  a  study  of  the  strikes  in  the  United  States 
from  November  1, 1879,  to  October  1, 1880.  Of  the  121  for  an 
increase  of  wages,80  were  won  and  19  compromised;  of  the  28 
against  a  reduction  of  wages,  21  were  lost,  3  compromised, 
and  2  won.  It  is  seen  that  strikes  fail  sometimes,  and  are 
sometimes  won,  but  in  both  cases  there  is  serious  loss  to 
somebody,  and  it  would  be  a  gain  to  everybody  if  the  result 
of  the  strike,  whatever  it  may  be,  could  be  reached  without 
the  strike. 


The  Great  Pullman  Strike, 

The  great  Pullman  and  railroad  strike  of  1894  originated 
in  a  demand  for  an  increase  of  wages  by  the  mechanics  em- 
ployed in  the  car  manufacturing  shop  of  the  Pullman  Palace 
Car  Company,  at  Pullman,  111. 

1.  The  Demand  Was  Refused,  and  2,000  men  laid  down 
their  tools  on  the  llth  of  May.    An  attempt  at  arbitration  was 
made  a  few  days  afterward,  but  it  failed.     Matters  stood 
thus  until    June  15,  when    a    committee   of    the    strikers 
again  sought  the  officers  of  the  Pullman  company  with  a 
proposition  to  arbitrate  the  dispute.    Thej-  were  met  with 
the  reply  that  there  was  nothing  to  arbitrate. 

2.  The  American  Railway  Union. — Before  the  strike 
began  the  labor  organization  known  as  the  American  Rail- 
way Union  had  assured  the  Pullman  men  that  in  the  event  of 
a  strike  the  union  would  support  them  by  declaring  a  boycott 
against  the  Pullman  cars;  that  is,  that  the  members  or   the 
union,  employes  of  the  railroads,  would  refuse  to  handle 
trains  made  up  in  whole  or  in  part  of  Pullman  cars.     On 
June  26  the  boycott  was  declared,  and  the  general  strike 
began. 

3.  The  Mob.— During  the  strike  more  than  a  thousand 
freight  cars  were  set  on  fire  and  burned.    Forty-five  trains 
were  stoned  and  fired  upon  by  the  mobs  along*  the  line  01 
the  railways.    Buildings,  station  houses  and  railroad  prop- 
erty were  set  on  fire  and  burned.     Innocent  people  travel- 
ing in  the  cars  were  injured  by  rocks  and  pieces  of  iron  and 
bullets  thrown  through  the  windows  of  the  cars.     Locomo- 
tives were  started  on  the  tracks  and  sent  wild  along  the 
roads,  endangering  the  lives  of  hundreds  of  people.    On 
July  5  a  mob  of  ten  thousand  people  gathered  in  one  part  of 


I 

uf 


THE  GREAT  PULLMAN  STRIKE.  465 

the  city  and  moved  nearly  three  miles  along  through  a  dense 
part  or  the  city,  destroying  and  burning  property,  and  the 
universal  cry  of  that  mob  was:  "To  hell  with  the  govern- 
ment ! "  How  near  this  comes  to  the  carrying  out  of  the 
declaration  of  the  anarchists  of  Pennsylvania,  who  pro- 
claimed that  they  were  "opposed  to  all  private  property, 
and,  as  the  _st.ate  is  the  bulwark  of  property,  they  were 
opposed  to  all  government,"  I  need  not  stop  to  inquire. 

4.  The  Next  Three  Weeks. — It  would  be  impossible, 
in  the  space  at  our  disposal,  even  if  it  were  necessary,  to  tell 
in  full  the  story  of  the  next  three  weeks.    The  disturbance 
was  greatest  at  Chicago,  but  it  extended  to  many  points  in 
the  West  and  to  a  few  points  in  the  East. 

5.  Attempt  to  Prevent  the  Running  of  Trains. — The  at- 
tempt to  prevent  the  running  of  trains  was  accompanied  by 
violence  in  which,  it  is  said,  many  of  the  strikers  took  part; 
but  by  far  the  greatest  part  of  the  disorder  was  the  work  of 
the  lawless  element  of  the  population,  consisting  largely  of 
foreigners,  which  is  always  at  hand  to  take  advantage  of 
occasions  to  plunder  and  destroy. 

6.  State  and  United  States  Troops.— Both  State  and 
United  States  troops  were  called  to  arms  at  various  points 
in  the  West  to  quell  riots  and  to  protect  property.    The 
employment  of  the  national  'crces  for  this  purpose  was 
warmly  criticised  in  some  quarters;   but  both   Houses  of 
Congress  have  approved  of  the  President's  action  by  a 
formal  vote. 

7.  The  Strike  Failed. — The  reasons  of  the  failure  are 
evident.    However  strongly  the  wage  earners  of  the  counUy 
may  have  sympathized  with  the  strikers  in  their  grand  ob- 
ject, namely,  to  obtain  higher  wages,  a  vast  number  of  them 
did  not  think  the  strike  expedient.    When  ordered  to  strike 
in  support  of  it  they  did  not  obey,  for  in  these  days  of  busi- 
ness depression,  they  knew  that  their    places  could  be 
quickly  filled  from  the  ranks  of  the  unemployed. 

8.  The  Leader  of  the  Movement. — Moreover,  so  far  as 
can  be  judged  by  impartial  observers,  they  seemed  not  to 
have  confidence  in  the  discretion  of  the  leader  of  the  move- 
ment.   As  for  the  strikers  themselves,   they  could    only 
succeed  by  preventing  the  running  of  trains;  and  when  the 
military  force  was  employed  to  aid  the  railroads  in  their 
operation,  the  last  chance  was  removed. 

9.  Great  Inconvenience  and  Loss. — The  strike  is  another 
example,  cf  which  there  have  been  so  many,  of  the  fact  that 
the  whole  community  may  be   put  to  great  inconvenience 
and  loss  by  disputes  and  conflicts  over  which  the   law  has 
assumed  no  jurisdiction.    If  a  policeman   sees  two  dogs 


<l 


466 


THE   GREAT  PULLMAN  STRIKE.  467 


EUGENE  V.  DEBS, 
The  Leader  of  the  Railway  Strike  in  1894. 

fighting,  he  can  part  them.  If  two  men  have  a  feud  and 
attempt  to  shoot  each  other,  both  can  be  arrested.  If  an 
employer  tries  to  defraud  or  oppress  one  of  his  men,  or  if 
one  workman  tries  to  destroy  his  employer's  property ,  the 
Jaw  intervenes  with  a  strong  arm.  But  if  wrong  be  done  on 


468  PREVENTING   STRIKES. 

a  large  scale,  or  by  a  large  number  of  men,  there  is  no  law 
which  authorizes  the  community  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  Why  is 
not  a  law  of  compulsory  arbitration  justified  by  the  laws 
now  in  force,  which  shall  prevent  any  one  man  who  thinks 
he  is  wronged  from  taking  the  law  into  his  own  hands? 

10.  The  Wage  Earners  of  the  country  are  strong  enough 
in  numbers  to  make  almost  any  laws  they  see  fit  to  make. 
Doubtless  the  time  will  come  when  they  will  by  peaceable 
means  have  a  controlling  voice  in  national  legislation.  But 
they  can  never  win  popular  support  until  they  not  only 
refrain  from  violence  themselves,  as  most  of  them  now  do, 
but  take  the  lead  in  preventing  reckless,  injudicious  friends 
from  employing  force. 


Preventing  Strikes. 

ARBITRATION    LAW   EFFECTIVE. 

Working  of  the  System  in  Massachusetts  During  Eight 

years.— Employers  and  Employed  Find 

Their  Interests  Protected. 

1.  No  Complications. — Since  the  board  of  arbitration 
and  conciliation  was  established  in   Massachusetts,  1886- 
1894,  neither  the  militia  nor  the  police  have  been  called  upon 
to  interfere  in  labor  troubles.      Before  that  organization 
existed  there  were  continual  appeals  for  their  existence  in 
preserving  the  peace  and  protecting  property.    Formerly 
the  constant  disputes  between  employers  and  employed  over 
wages,  hours  of  labor,  the  employment  of  non-union  work- 
men and  other  sources  of  friction  cost  the  state  treasury 
many  thousands  of  dollars  annually,  often  several  hundreds 
of  thousands,  for  Massachusetts  is  the  fourth  manufacturing 
state  in  the  Union. 

2.  Money  Saved.— During  the  last  eight  years  the  ex- 
penditures on  this  account  have  been  less  than  $9,000.    Last 
year  they  amounted  to  $8,980,  of  which  $6,000  represented 
the  salaries  of  three  members  of  the  board  of  arbitration, 
$1,200  the  salary  of  its  secretary  and  the  remainder  con- 
tingent expenses,  such  as  railroad  fare,  hotel  bills,  stationery 
and  printing. 

3.  Costs  of  Strikes. — It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  and 
difficult  to  estimate  the  amount  of  money  that  was  lost  an- 
nually by  the  stoppage  of  work,  owing  to  strikes  and  labor 


PREVENTING  STRIKES.  469 

disputes  before  this  board  was  organized,  but  last  year  it 
settled  controversies  involving  $1,652,246  in  the  wages  of  men 
and  women  and  $8,637,625  in  the  product  of  their  labor.  In 
1892  the  board  cost  the  state  $10,430,  and  it  settled  disputes 
involving  a  product  valued  at  $8,986,210  and  wages  amount- 
ing to  $2,034,804.  In  1891  it  cost  the  state  $8,108,  and 
settled  disputes  involving  $12,044,525  in  products  and  $4,056,- 
195  in  wages.  All  of  which  shows  that  as  a  financial  invest- 
ment the  Massachusetts  plan  of  arbitration  is  a  good  thing. 

4.  The  Law. — The  first  section  of  the  law  authorizes 
the  governor  to  appoint  "three  competent  persons  to  serve 
as  a  state  board  or  arbitration  and  conciliation  in  the  manner 
hereinafter  provided.    One  of  them  shall  be  an  employer  or 
selected  from  some  association  representing  employers  of 
labor,  one  of  them  shall  be  selected  from  some  labor  organ- 
ization and  not  an  employer  of  labor,  the  third  shall  be  ap- 
pointed upon  the  recommendation  of  the  other  two."    The 
commissions  are  so  dated  that  one  vacancy  occurs  each 
year,  but  at  no  time  is  the  board  without  two  members  of 
experience.    As  a  matter  of  fact  Mr.  Walcott  and  Mr.  Barry 
have  served  continuously  from  the  beginning.    There  have 
been  three  other  appointments  in  eight  years 

5.  Conditions. — The  bill  declares  that  whenever  any 
controversy  not  involving  questions  which  may  be  the  sub- 
ject of  a  suit  at  law  exists  between  an  employer  and  his 
employes,  if   he  employs  twenty-five  persons,  the    board 
shall,  upon  application,  as  soon  as  practicable,  visit  the 
locality  and  make  careful  inquiry  into  the  cause,  hear  all 
persons    interested,  advise  the  parties  what,  if  anything, 
ought  to  be  done  to  adjust  the  dispute,  and  make  a  written 
decision.    This  decision  shall  at  once  be  made  public,  re- 
corded by  the  secretary  of  the  board  and  a  copy  filed  with 
the  clerk  of  the  city  or  town  where  the  business  is  carried 
on.  » 

6.  Assistants. — When  notice  has  been  given  as  afore- 
said, each  of  the  parties  to  the  controversy,  the  employer  on 
one  side  and  the  employes  interested  on  the  other  side,  may 
in  writing  nominate  and  the  board  may  appoint  one  person  to 
act  in  the  case  as  expert  assistant  to  the  board.    The  two 
persons  so  appointed  shall  be  skilled  in  and  conversant  with 
the  business  or  trade   concerning  which  the  dispute  has 
arisen.     It  shall  be  their  duty,  under  the  direction  of  the 
board,  to  obtain  and  report  to  the  board  information  con- 
cerning the  wages  paid,  and  the  methods  and  grades  of  work 
prevailing  in  manufacturing  establishments  within  the  com- 
monwealth of  a  character  similar  to  that  in  which  the  mat- 
ters in  dispute  have  arisen.    The  expert  assistants  shall  be 


470  THE  RIGHT  AND  WRONG  OF  STRIKES. 

sworn  to  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duty.  They  shall  be 
entitled  to  receive  from  the  treasury  of  the  commonwealth 
such  compensation  as  shall  be  allowed  and  certified  by  the 
board,  together  with  all  necessary  traveling  expenses. 
Should  the  petitioners  fail  to  perform  the  promise  made  in 
the  application,  the  board  shall  proceed  no  further  without 
the  written  consent  of  the  adverse  party. 

7.  Witnesses. — The  board  is  authorized  to  compel  the 
attendance  of  witnesses  and  the  production  of  books,  rec- 
ords and  papers,  and  administer  oaths.     Section  5  provides 
for  the  publication  of  the  decision.     Section  6  is  very  im- 
portant, and  provides  that  all  decisions  of  the  board  shall 
be  binding  upon  the  parties  who  join  in  said  application  for 
six  months,  or  until  either  party  has  given  the  other  notice 
in  writing  of  his  intention  not  to  be  bound  by  the  same  at 
the  expiration  of  sixty  days  therefrom.     Said  notice  may  be 
given  to  said  employes  by  posting  the  same  in  three  con- 
spicuous places  in  the  shop  or  factory  where  they  work. 

8.  No  Compulsion. — There  is  no  penalty  provided  for 
refusing  to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  board,  nor  is  there 
any    method    of    enforcing    its  decrees.     Everything   that 
points  to  force  or  compulsion  seems  to  have  been  carefully 
omitted,  and  the  sixth  section,  which  provides  that  the  de- 
cision shall  be  binding  for  only  six  months,  seems  to  be  a 
weak  spot  in  the  law. 


The  Right  and  Wrong  of  Strikes. 

1.  Complete  Equality. — In  any  contract  or  business  re- 
lation between  the  wage-laborer  and  the  wage-payer,  the 
two  parties  meet  on  terms  of  complete  equality  in  respect 
to  the  law,  to  natural  common  rights,  to  the  claims  of  re- 
spect and  courtesy,  to  all  the  obligations  of  fair  and  patient 
consideration1. 

2.  Class-Feeling. — This    excludes     on*  the    part     of 
the     wage-laborer,     jealousy,    suspicion,     eye-service     or 
sham  work,  under  the  influence  of  class-feeling  or  resent- 
ment.   It  excludes  on  the  part  of  the  wage-payer,  contempt, 
national  or  sectional  or  personal  prejudice,  all   taking  ad- 
vantage from  a  sense  of  superior  power  or  social  standing, 
or  from  any  traditional  sentiment  due  to  past  social  dis- 
tinctions. 

3.  No  Transaction  is  Righteous.— No    transaction  is 
righteous  where  the  necessities,  the  weakness,  the  depend- 


THE  RIGHT  AND  WRONG  OF  STRIKES. 


471 


ence  of  the  laborer  are  directly  or  indirectly  made  to  re- 
duce the  price  of  his  service  below  an  equitable  mark,  or  to 
delay  payment. 

4.  Effects  Far  Beyond  the  Immediate  Issue. — In  cases 
of  difference,  however  exasperating,  a  wise  forecast  will 
keep  both  parties  in  mind  that  every  such  struggle  has 


The  Effects  of  Strikes. 


effects  far  beyond  the  immediate  issue,  and  that,  in  the 
present  and  prospective  state  of  public  feeling,  any  settle- 
ment brought  about  by  sheer  coercion  is  to  be  deprecated 
as  leaving  behind  irritation  instead  of  mutual  good  will,  and 
the  discontent  of  an  unhealed  wound  instead  of  mutual  con- 
fidence. 


472  THE  RIGHT  AND  WRONG  OF  STRIKES. 

5.  What  Is  a  Strike?— A  strike  is  a  concerted   sus- 
pension of  work  by  wage-workers  of  either  sex  in  the  em- 
ploy of  wage-payers  for  an  alleged  non-fulfillment  of  a  con- 
tract, or  as  a  protest  at  the  alleged  imposition  of  new  de- 
mands, or  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  some  benefit  declared 
to  be  deserved  on  account  of  new  conditions  in  the  line  of 
industry  pursued,  or  in  the  cost  of  living,  or  for  the  correc- 
tion of  personal  offenses  against  wage-workers. 

6.  A  Great  Evil. — Taking    into  account  the  disturb- 
ances, the  damage  to  related  branches  of  business,  the  risk 
of  loss,  temporary  at  least,  to  one  or  both  parties,  the  un- 
certainty of  the  result,  and  the  probable  provocation  to  ill- 
temper  and  consequent  alienation,  the  strike  must  be  re- 
garded as  an  evil — a  measure  to  be  resorted  to  only  in  the 
last  extremity,  when  all  other  modes  of  remedy  or  satis- 
faction have  first  been  tried. 

7.  How  to  Prevent  Strikes.— -The  primary  preventive 
of  strikes  is  definiteness  and  particularity  In  the  original 
agreement  of  contract  between  the  employer  and  the  em- 
ployed.   The  specifications  could  easily  be  made  to  meet 
ordinary  cases  of  difference,  and  forestall  a  rupture. 

8.  Reduced  Wages. — No  strike  can  be  justified  on  the 
ground  of  reduced  wages  where  it  can  be  proved  by  the 
board  of  arbitration,  or  otherwise,  that  the  market  value  of 
the  product  of  the  industry  is  insufficient  to  sustain  wages 
at  the  regular  rate.    The  employer  should  show  his  books, 
the  workman  what  it  costs  him  to  live,  and  fully  explain  his 
embarrassment  in  meeting  present  prices. 

9.  Needless  Element.— Justice  demands  that,  except 
in  extreme  necessity,  the  act  which,  on  either  side,  dis- 
solves the  contract  or  suspends  the  work  should  not  be  sud- 
den.   The  suddenness  is  a  needless  element  in  the  injury. 
Unless  there  is  a  patent  or  actual  outrage,  notice  ought  to 
be  given  and  an  opportunity  afforded  for  an  amicable  ad- 
justment.    Either  party  may  apprehend  that  the  other  will 
take  advantage  of  the  notice  to  secure  itselland  damage  the 
antagonist. 

10.  Serious  and  Needless  Losses. — Serious  and  need- 
less losses  are  suffered  among  workmen  »ind  their  families 
by  haste,  indiscretion  and  assumption  in  exciting  and  or- 
dering strikes  where  they  are  not  warranted  by  sufficient 
cause.     If  organizations  are  needed  to  prevent  this  mischief, 
organization  becomes  an  imperative  duty.     No  rash  indig- 
nation, no  appeals  to  pride  or  class  spirit,  no  false  loyalty  to 
an  irresponsible  society,  will  excuse  a  wanton  waste  of  time 
and  family  comfort.     Workingmen  lose  by  it  not  only  what 
they  cannot  afford  to  lose  in  their  own  welfare;  they  lose 


THE  RIGHT  AND  WRONG  OF  STRIKES.  473 

the  respect  and  sympathy  of  the  wiser  part  of  the  com- 
munity standing  ready  to  befriend  them. 

11.  Rights  of  Labor.— That  any  number  of  men  in  this 
country  have  a  right  to  combine,  organize  and  act  together 
for  the  lawful  promotion  of  their  convictions  or  their  com- 
mon interests,  ought  by  this  time  to  be  beyond  dispute.     If 
a  number  of  men  may  combine  to  raise  or  keep  up  the  price 
of  oil,  wheat  or  sugar,  then  there  may  be  a  union  to  raise  or 
keep  up  the  price  of  labor.    An  organization  of  workmen 
for  that  purpose  is  far  less  likely  to  do  mischief  than  are  the 
manufacturers  or  trafficking  monopolists  who  overtax  the 
many  for  the  aggrandizement  of  the  few.     It  will  be  likely 
to  have  in  it  manlier  men,  better  characters,  and  a  more 
disinterested  public  spirit. 

12.  Politicians. — Politicians,  who  have  no  scruples  in 
damaging  and  obstructing  one  another's  parties  by  all  sorts 
of  devices,  are  shocked  when  they  hear,  and    sometimes 
when  they  only  suspect,  that  labor  men  are  doing  the  same 
thing.    The  game  is  bad  for  both  of  them.     It  takes  time  to 
convince  unwilling  minds,  but  time  and  experience  will  do 
it. 

13.  Discharging  Employes. — Membership  in  an  asso- 
ciation representing  a  social  theory,  or  a  plan  of  mutual 
support,  without  any  hostile  purpose  toward  any  particular 
institution  or  enterprise,  is  no  more  a  justification  for  dis- 
charging workmen  than  is  membership  of  the  officers  of  a 
railroad  in  a  political  club  a  justification  for  an  abandon- 
ment by  the  workmen  of  their  work. 

14.  Capital  and  Labor. — It  sounds  well  to  say  that  labor 
cannot  live  without  capital. .  In  point  of  fact,  taking  capital 
in  its  technical  scientific  sense,  there  is  a  conceivable,  and 
not  impossible,  industrial  and  social  state  where  labor  can 
live  without  capital  independently  and  comfortably.     It  has 
done  so,  and  may  do  so  again.    At  any  rate,  capitalists  know 
very  well  that  without  labor  their  capital  would  not,  in  most 
cases,  have  been  created,  and  if  created,  would  speedily 
disappear.  ( 

15.  Sharp  Policy. — We  hear  it  offered  as  an  excuse  for 
a  sharp  policy  on  the  part  of  capital  that  the  working  classes 
are  in  no  danger  of  depression,  in  fact  that  they  rather  need 
to  be  kept  down  by  the  strong  hand.    Is  it  true?  By  a  recent 
report  of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor, 
"one-third  of  all  the  persons  engaged  in  remunerative  labor 
are  unemployed  at  their  principal  occupation  for  about  one- 
third  of  their  working  time."     The  average  annual  wages  of 
the  operatives  in  ninety  manufacturing  establishments  in 
New  England,  as  shown  by  a  professor  of  the  Massachusetts 


474  BOARDS  OF  LABOR  CONCILIATION. 

State  Agricultural  College,  was  in  1888,8441;  of  the  proprie- 
tors, $4,983.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  families  con- 
trol  75  to  80  per  cent,  of  our  national  wealth,  while  75  per 
cent,  pay  but  27  per  cent,  of  taxes  for  the  support  of  the 
government,  and  the  owners  of  but  a  quarter  of  the  property 
pay  73  per  cent* 


Boards  of  Labor  Conciliation. 

1.  Use-of  Boards  of  Conciliation. — It  is  surprising  that 
we,  in  this  country,  have  as  yet  made  so  little  use  of  boards 
of  conciliation.     In  England  they  are  found  in  many  of  the 
large    trades,  and,  as  a  direct  result,  in    many  businesses 
strikes  have  become  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  both  the  wage- 
workers  and  the  employers  are  outspoken  in  their  expres- 
sions of  thankfulness  for  the  more  intelligent  relations  and 
better  feelings  that  have  ensued. 

2.  Arbitration. — Arbitration  is  not  the  same  as  concili- 
ation, but  may  be  used   when   conciliation  has  failed,  or 
where  there  has  been  no  attempt  at  conciliation.    Arbitra- 
tion is  "  after  the  fact,"  and  implies  that  a  cause  of  differ- 
ence and  a  dispute  have  arisen.     By  arbitration  this  maybe 
settled,  a  compromise  effected  and  war  averted;  and  that 
whether  the  dispute  relates  to  past  arrangements,  as  to  what 
are  the  terms  of  an  existing  contract,  the  just  application  of 
those  terms  to  a  new  state  of  things,  or  whether  the  difficulty 
is  to  agree  upon  future  prices  or  conditions  of  labor. 

3.  Conciliation. — Conciliation  aims  at  something  higher 
— at  doing  before  the  fact  that  which  arbitration  accom- 
plishes after.     It  seeks  to  prevent  and  remove  the  causes  of 
dispute  before  they  arise,  to  adjust  differences  and  claims 
before  they  become  disputes.    Arbitration  is  limited  to  the 
larger  and  more  general  questions  of  industry,  those  of 
wages    or    prices,    or    those    concerning    a    whole    trade. 
A  board  of  conciliation  deals  with  matters  that  could  not  be 
arbitrated  upon;  promoting  the  -growth  of  beneficial  cus- 
toms; interfering  in  the  smaller  details  of   industrial  life; 
modifying  or  removing  some  of  the  worst  evils  incidental  to 
modern  industry,  such,  for  example,  as  the  truck  system,  or 
the  wrongs  which  workmen  suffer  at  the  hands  of  middle- 
men and  overseers. 

4.  Formation  of  a  Board  of  Conciliation. — Of  course, 
for  the  formation  of  a  board  of  conciliation  it  is  necessary 
that  the  wage-workers  and  (unless  the  board  is  confined  but 
to  one  shop  in  the  trade)  the  employers  should  be  organized, 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR.  475 

in  order  that  accredited  representation  from  both  sides 
should  find  place  on  the  board,  say  three  representatives 
from  each  side  to  be  appointed  as  may  be  agreed  upon. 
Organization  and  combination  is,  however,  the  order  of  the 
day,  and  when  it  is  understood  to  be  essential  to  the  highest 
interests  of  the  wage-payer  arid  wage-receiver,  suspicion 
and  jealousy  on  this  score  may  be  expected  to  disappear. 

5.  The  Proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation. — The 
proceedings  of  the  board  of  conciliation  are  very  informal, 
not  like  a  court,  but  the  masters  and  men  sit  round  a  table, 
the  men  interspersed  with  the  masters.  Each  side  has  its 
secretary.  The  proceedings  are  without  ceremony,  and  the 
matter  is  settled  by  what  the  men  call  a  "long-jaw"  dis- 
cussion and  explanation  of  views,  in  which  the  men  convince 
the  masters  as  often  as  the  masters  the  men.  Of  course, 
this  does  not  mean  that  every  member  of  the  board  is  always 
convinced,  though  it  seems  that  even  this  is  often  the  case, 
but  when  they  are  not  they  are  content  to  compromise.  It 
is  in  fact  conciliation,  and  is  better  than  the  decision  of  a 
court  or  of  an  umpire.  The  "long-jaw"  ending  in  an  agree- 
ment, may  take  a  longer  time,  but  it  is  the  true  practical 
way  out  of  the  difficulty. 


The  Principles   and    Declarations   of 
Organized  Labor, 

1.  The  True  Standard. — To  make  industrial  and  moral 
worth,  not  wealth,  the  true  standard  of  individual  and  na- 
tional greatness. 

2.  Sufficient  Leisure. — To  secure  for  the  workers  the 
full  enjoyment  of  the  wealth  they  create;  sufficient  leisure 
in   which  to  develop  their  intellectual,  moral  and  social 
faculties;  all  of  the  benefits,  recreation,  and  pleasure  of  as- 
sociation; in  a  word  to  enable  them  to  share  in  the  gains 
and  honors  of  advancing  civilization. 

3.  Bureaus  of  Labor  Statistics. — The  establishment  of 
Bureaus  of  Labor  Statistics,  that  we  may  arrive  at  a  correct 
knowledge  of  the  educational,  moral,  and  financial  condi- 
tion of  the  laboring  masses. 

4.  Public  Lands. — That  the  public  lands,  the  heritage 
of  the  people,  be  reserved  for  actual  settlers;  not  another 
acre  for  railroads  or  speculators;  and  that  all  lands  now 
held  for  speculative  purposes  be  taxed  to  their  full  value. 


476  PRINCIPLES  OF  ORGANIZED  LABOR. 

5.  Capital  and  Labor. — The  abrogation  of  all  laws  that 
do  not  bear  equally  upon  capital  and  labor,  and  the  removal 
of  unjust  technicalities,  delays,  and  discriminations  in  the 
administration  of  justice. 

6.  Health  and  Safety. — The  adoption  of  measures  pro- 
viding for  the  health  and  safety  of  those  engaged  in  mining 
and  manufacturing  and  building  industries,' and  for  indem- 
nification to  those  engaged  therein  for  injuries  received 
through  lack  of  necessary  safeguards. 

7.  Protect  Their  Rights.— The  recognition  by  incor- 
poration of  trades-unions,  orders  and  such  other  associations 
as  may   be  organized  by  the  working  masses  to  improve 
their  condition  and  protect  their  rights. 

8.  To     Pay     Employes     Weekly.  —  The     enactment 
of"  laws  to   compel   corporations  to   pay  their    employes 
weekly,    in    lawful    money,    for    the    labor    of    the    pre- 
ceding week,  and  giving  mechanics  and  laborers  a  first  lien 
upon  the  product  of  their  labor  to  the  extent  of  their  full 
wages. 

9.  The  Abolition  of  the  Contract  System.— The  aboli- 
tion cf  the  contract  system  on  national,  state  and  municipal 
works. 

10.  Arbitration. — The  enactment  of  laws  providing  for 
arbitration  between  employers  and  employed,  arid  to  en- 
force the  decision  of  the  arbitrator. 

11.  Employment  of  Children. — The  prohibition  by  law 
of  the  employment  of  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age  in 
workshops,  mines  and  factories. 

12.  Convict  Labor. — To  prohibit  the  hiring  out  of  con- 
vict labor. 

13.  Income  Tax. — That    a  graduated  income   tax  be 
levied. 

14.  National   Monetary    System. — The    establishment 
of    a  national   monetary    system,  .in  which  a   circulating 
medium   in   necessary  quantity  shall    issue    direct  to  the 
people,   without  the  .  intervention   of  banks;    that  all   the 
national  issue  shall  be  full   legal  tender  in  payment  of  all 
debts,  public  and  private;  and  that  the  government  shall 
not  guarantee  or  recognize  any  private  banks  or  create  any 
banking  corporations. 

15.  Interest   Bearing    Bonds. — That    interest  bearing 
bonds,  bills  of  credit  or  notes  shall  never  be  issued  by  the 
government;  but  that,  when   need  arises,  the  emergency 
shall  be  met  by  issue  of  legal  tender,  non-interest  bearing 
money. 

16.  Foreign  Labor. — That  the  importation  of  foreign 
labor  under  contract  be  prohibited. 


LABOR   LEGISLATION.  477 

17.  Post  Office. — That,  in  connection   with    the  post 
office,  the  government  shall  organize  financial  exchanges, 
safe  deposits,  and  facilities  for  deposit  of  the  savings  of  the 
people  in  small  sums. 

18.  Government  Purchase,  Telegraphs,    Telephones, 
Railroads. — That  the  government  shall  obtain  possession, 
by  purchase  under  the  rights  of  eminent  domain,  of  all  tele- 
graphs, telephones    and  railroads;  and  that  hereafter  no 
charterer  license  be  issued  to  any  corporation  for  the  con- 
struction   or    operation    of    any    means    of    transporting 
intelligence,  passengers  or  freights. 

And  while  making  the  foregoing  demands  upon  the 
state  and  national  government,  we  will  endeavor  to  associ- 
ate our  own  labors. 

19.  To  Establish  Co-operative   Institutions. —  To  es- 
tablish co-operative  institutions  such  as  will  tend  to  super- 
sede  the  wage  system,  by  the  introduction  of  a  co-operative 
industrial  system. 

20.  Both  Sexes  Equal  Pay. — To  secure  for  both  sexes 
equnl  pay  for  equal  work. 

21.  To  Shorten  the  Hours  of  Labor. — To  shorten  the 
hours  of  labor  by  a  general  refusal  to  work  for  more  than 
eight  Lours. 

22.  To   Persuade   Employers   to  Arbitrate. — To  per- 
suade employers  to  arbitrate  all  differences  which  may  arise 
between  them  and  their  employes,  in  order  that  the  bonds 
of  sympathy  between  them  may  be  strengthened,  and  that 
strikes  may  be  rendered  unnecessary. 


Labor  Legislation. 

ANTI-BOYCOTTING  AND  ANTI-BLACKLISTING 
LAWS. 

The  states  having  laws  prohibiting  boycotting  in  terms 
are  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 

The  states  having  laws  prohibiting  blacklisting  in  terms 
are  Colorado,  Florida,  Georgia,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Mis- 
souri, Montana,  North  Dakota,  Virginia  and  Wisconsin. 

The  following  states  have  laws  which  may  be  fairly  con- 
strued as  prohibiting  boycotting:  Alabama,  Connecticut, 
Georgia,  Indiana,  Maine,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Missouri, 
Montana,  New  Hampshire,  New  York,  North  Dakota,  Ore- 
gon, Rhode  Island,  South  Dakota,  Texas  and  Vermont. 

31 


478 


LABOR   LEGISLATION. 


J.  R.  SOVEREIGN, 
Grand  Master  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. 


The  following  states  have  laws  which  may  be  fairly  con- 
strued as  prohibiting  blacklisting:  Maine,  Michigan,  Min- 
nesota, New  Hampshire,  New  York,  Oregon,  Rhode  Island. 
South  Dakota,  Texas  and  Vermont. 

In  New  York  it  is  a  misdemeanor  for  any  employer  to 
exact  an  agreement,  either  written  or  verbal,  from  an  em- 
ploye not  to  join  or  become  a  member  of  any  labor  organ- 
ization, as  a  condition  of  employment. 


EIGHT-HOUR  LAWS. 

Alabama. — Eight  hours  of  labor  constitute  a  day's  work 
for  a  woman  or  a  child  under  eighteen  (18)  years  of  age  in 
a  mechanical  or  manufacturing  business. 


LABOR   LEGISLATION.  479 

California.— Eight  hours  of  labor  constitute  a  day's 
work,  unless  it  is  otherwise  expressly  stipulated  by  the  par- 
ties to  a  contract.  A  stipulation  that  eight  hours  of  labor 
constitute  a  day's  work  must  be  made  a  part  of  all  contracts 
to  which  the  state  or  any  municipal  corporation  therein  is 
a  party.  But  in  the  case  of  drivers,  conductors  and  grip- 
men  of  street- cars  for  the  carriage  of  passer. gers,  a  day's 
work  consists  of  twelve  hours.  It  is  a  misdemeanor  for  any 
person  having  a  minor  child  under  his  control,  either  as 
ward  or  apprentice,  to  require  such  child  to  labor  more  than 
eight  hours  in  any  one  day,  except  in  vinicultural  or  horti- 
cultural pursuits,  or  in  domestic  or  household  occupations. 

Colorado. — Eight  hours  constitute  a  day's  work  for  all 
workingmen  employed  by  the  state,  or  any  county,  town- 
ship, school  district,  municipality,  or  incorporated  town. 

Connecticut. — Eight  hours  of  labor  constitute  a  lawful 
day's  work  unless  otherwise  agreed. 

District  of  Columbia.— Eight  hours  constitute  a  day's 
work  for  all  laborers  or  mechanics  employed  by  or  in  behalf 
of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Idaho. — Eight  hours'  actual  work  constitute  a  lawful 
day's  work  on  all  state  and  municipal  works. 

Illinois. — Eight  hours  are  a  legal  day's  work  in  all 
mechanical  employments,  except  on  farms,  and  when  other- 
wise agreed;  does  not  apply  to  service  by  the  day,  week  or 
month,  or  prevent  contracts  for  longer  hours. 

Intiiana. — Eight  hours  of  labor  constitute  a  legal  day's 
work  for  all  classes  of  mechanics,  workingmen  and  laborers, 
excepting  those  engaged  in  agricultural  and  domestic  labor. 
Overwork  by  agreement  and  for  extra  compensation  is  per- 
mitted. 

Kansas. — Eight  hours  constitute  a  day's  work  for  all 
laborers,  mechanics  or  other  persons  employed  by  or  on 
behalf  of  the  state  or  any  county,  city,  township  or  othei 
municipality. 

Nebraska. — Eight  hours  constitute  a  legal  day's  work 
for  all  classes  of  mechanics,  servants  and  laborers,  except 
those  engaged  in  farm  or  domestic  labor. 

New  Mexico. — Eight  hours  of  labor  actually  performed 
upon  a  mining  claim  constitute  a  day's  work,  the  value  of 
the  same  being  fixed  at  four  dollars. 

New  Jersey. — Eight  hours  constitute  a  day's  labor  on 
any  day  whereon  any  general  or  municipal  election  shall  be 
held. 

New  York. — Eight  hours  constitute  a  day's  work  for 
mechanics,  workingmen  and  laborers,  except  in  farm  or 
domestic  labor,  but  overwork  for  extra  pay  is  permitted. 


480  COMPETITION   THAT  KILLS. 

The  law  applies  to  those  employed  by  the  state  or  munici- 
pality, or  by  persons  contracting  for  state  work. 

Ohio. — Eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day's  work  in  all 
engagements  to  labor  in  any  mechanical,  manufacturing  or 
mining  business,  unless  otherwise  expressly  stipulated  in 
the  contract.  But  in  case  of  conductors,  engineers,  firemen 
or  trainmen  of  railroads,  a  day's  work  consists  of  ti  n  hours. 

Pennsylvania. — Eight  hours,  between  rising  and  setting 
of  sun,  constitute  a  day's  work  in  the  absence  of  an  agree- 
ment for  longer  time.  The  law  does  not  apply  to  farm 
labor  or  to  service  by  the  year,  month,  etc.;  but  in  case  of 
employes  of  street  railroads  a  day's  work  consists  of  twelve 
hours. 

Utah. — Eight  hours  constitute  a  day's  work  upon  all 
public  works. 

Wisconsin. — In  all  engagements  to  labor  in  any  manu- 
facturing or  mechanical  business,  where  there  is  no  express 
contract  to  the  contrary,  a  day's  work  shall  consist  of  e^ght 
hours;  but  the  law  does  not  apply  to  contracts  for  labor  by 
the  week,  month  or  year.  In  all  manufactories,  workshops 
or  other  places  usecf  lor  mechanical  or  manufacturing  pur- 
poses, the  time  of  labor  of  children  under  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen, and  of  women  employed  therein,  shall  not  exceed 
eight  hours  in  the  day. 

Wyoming. — Eight  hour's  actual  work  constitute  a  legal 
day's  work  in  all  mines  and  public  works. 

United  States. — Eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day's 
work  for  all  laborers,  workmen  and  mechanics  who  may  be 
employed  by  or  on  behalf  of  the  United  States. 


Competition  That  Kills. 

1.  Cloakmakers. — The  cloakmakers  who   lately  went 
on  strike  in  New  York  had  been  forced  to  work  under  most 
unhealthy  conditions  from  twelve  to  sixteen  and  even  eigh- 
teen hours  a  day,  and  often  seven  days  in  a  week,  to  make 
a  bare  living.     They  earned  from  87  to  (10  weekly;  and  as 
they  were  often  out  of  work,  $5  a  week  may  have  been  a  fair 
average  for  their  wages  the  year  around. 

2.  "  Sweating  "  Dens. — In  Philadelphia  there  are  even 
more  "  sweating  "  dens  for  clothing-makers  than  in  New 
York.    A  Philadelphia  minister  states  that   there  are  six 
hundred  of  these  dens  to  the  square  mile  in  which  his  church 
stands. 


EMANCIPATED    LABOR.  48X 

3.  Ill-fed,  Unwashed. — The  same  witness  describes  the 

workers  as  ill-fed,  unwashed,  half-clad,  their  hands  damp 
with  slow  consumption.  The  children  work  as  soon  as  they 
can  draw  a  thread,  and  as  the  factory  age  in  the  state  is 
thirteen,  even  those  who  cannot  speak  plainly  will  say 
"thirteen  "  mechanically  when  asked  their  age. 

4.  Small  Employers. — It  is  also  well  known  that  when 
one  of  the  small  employers  was  urged  to  repair  his  roof  in 
order  to  save  his  employes  from  exposure  and  disease,  he 
replied:  "Men  are  cheaper  than  shingles;  no  sooner  does 
one  drop  out  than  a  dozen  are  ready  to  take  his  place." 

5.  Is  There  No  Remedy? — These  are  illustrative  facts. 
They  indicate,  but  do  riot  describe,  a  widely  prevailing  con- 
dition. 

Is  there  no  remedv?  Is  the  law  of  competition  not  capa- 
ble of  being  controlled  in  the  interest  of  public  health,  de- 
cency, and  well-being?  Must  we  continue  to  welcome  the 
weaklings  of  other  nations,  who  here  fight  with  each  oiber 
lo  obtain  even  the  unwholesome  task-slavery  of  the  sweat 
shop? 

Emancipated  Labor. 

1.  Man's  First  Appearance. — In  the  long  history  of 
our  planet,  since  man's  first  appearance  upon  it,  the  era 
which  we  call  antiquity  seems  little  more  than  of  yester- 
day; while  the  distance  between  the  denizen  of  the  ancient 
and  the  citizen  of  the  modern  world,  as  far  as  institutions, 
like  those  of  government,  literature  and  art  are  concerned, 
is  in  many  ways  insignificant.     Yet  when  we  consider  the 
workman  of  antiquity,  and  compare  him  with  the  toiler  of 
our  own  time,  the  two  seem  to  be  separated  by  an  immense 
interval. 

2.  Serfdom. — The     industrial     arrangements     of    the 
ancient  civilizations    were  all  based  on   the  serfdom  that 
sprang  from  war.     For  when  men  reached  the  agricultural 
stage,  they  no  longer  killed  captives  taken  in  battle,  but 
employed  them  in  the  tilling  of  the  ground,  and  later  in  the 
construction  of  public  works. 

3.  Knew  Nothing  of  Free  Labor. — Empires  like  those 
of  China,  Assyria,  Egypt,  Greece  and  Rome  knew  nothing 
of  free  labor,  in  the  modern  meaning  of  that  term.     l£  was 
slaves  who  built  the  Great  Wall  of  China,  slaves  who  reared 
the  Pyramids,  slaves  who  erected  the  classic  monuments 
still  visible  in  the  peninsulas  of  the   Mediterranean,  and 
slaves  again  who  scattered  all  over  England  the  memorials 
of  the  Roman  invasion. 


482  EMANCIPATED  LABOR. 

4.  Slavery  of  Labor.— Nor  did  the  slavery  of  labor 
belong  only  to  the  ancient  world.    The  same  spirit  of  mil- 
'tarism  that  entrenched  the  institution  there  perpetuated  it 
through  the  middle  ages,  down  to  a  comparatively  modern 
period.     It  lingered   long  in  Germany  and  England  and 
showed  signs  of  breaking  up  only  with  the  decay  of  the 
feudal  system,  with  the  rise  of  the  towns,  the  development 
of  the  burgher  class,  and  the  formation  of  trades  guilds.  By 
the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  serfdom  became  prac- 
tically extinct  in  western  Europe,  and  with  its  extirpation 
the  laboring  classes  began  to  recover  from  the  effects  of 
their  long  enchainment. 

5.  Modern  Industrialism.— It  is  true  that  the  rise  of  the 
modern  industrialism  at  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury led  to  many  abuses  and  hardships,  yet  efforts  were 
sooner  or  later  made  to  remedy  them  by  process  of  law,  and 
the  same  English  legislature  which  set  out  by  endeavoring 
to  fix  the  wages  of  working  people  ended  by  passing  enact- 
ments for  their  protection. 

6.  Protective  Legislation.— To-day  this  protective  leg- 
islation is  of  wide-reaching  import.      It  restricts  hours  of 
labor,  prohibits  the  employment  of  young  children,  provides 
holidays,   compels    the    employer  to  fence  in   dangerous 
machinery,  enables  a  workman  to  sue   for  damages,  and 
permits  those  combinations  of  laborers  which  were  once 
forbidden  and  punished  as  crimes. 

7.  Improvement  of  the  Conditions  of  Labor. — Step  by 
step  with  this  improvement  of  the  conditions  of  labor  has 
gone  an   important  amelioration  of  the  political  status  of 
the  workingman.    Absolute  power  has  been  modified  and 
militarism   everywhere   weakened  by  industrialism.    The 
rights  of  the  old  feudal  lords  have  largely  passed  to  the 
land  owners  and  later  to  the  capitalists,  who  may  be  re- 
garded as  their  successors,  while  in  European  countries 
some  of  the  power  of  the  upper  classes  was  transferred  to 
the  middle  classes. 

8.  Abolition  of  Serfdom. — But  the    chief    and    latest 
product  of  the  movement  that  began  with  the  abolition  of 
serfdom  has  been  the  gradual  extension  of  political  power 
to  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  so  that  the  workman  who 
formerly  "did  not  own  himself"  now  not  only  enjoys  the 
protection  of  the  law,  but  himself  has  a  share  in  the  work 
and  the  responsibilities  of  government. 

9.  Fairer  and  More  Equal  Chance. — The  net  result  of 
this  advance  of  labor— improvement  of  its  conditions  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  conferring  upon  it  of  rights  and  privileges 
on  the  other — has  been  to  secure  to  workingmen  a  fairer 


EMANCIPATED   LABOR. 


483 


and  more  equal  chance  in  the  struggle  of  life  than  they  ever 
enjoyed  before.  And  though  the  upward  movement  is  by 
no  means  ended,  it  has  already  gone  far  enough  to  teach 
the  lesson  that  no  difficulties  are  henceforth  likely  to  arise 
between  capital  and  labor,  which  fairness,  business  sagacity 
and  the  spirit  of  compromise  may  not  triumphantly  over- 
come. 


The  Coal  Miner's  Lot. 


484 


TEMPERANCE. 


GEN.  NEAL  DOW,  of  Maine, 
Author  of  the  Maine  Temperance  Law. 

Intemperance. 

/.  Importance  of  Question. — One  of  the  greatest  and 
most  important  questions  before  the  American  people,  and 
one  which  more  widely  concerns  the  interests  of  the  labor- 
ing classes  than  any  other,  is  the  temperance  question. 


INTEMPERANCE.  485 

2.  Blighting  Curse  of  Labor. — The  fact  that  intemper- 
ance is  the  blighting  curse  of  labor,  arid  one  of  the  deadli- 
est foes  of  the  workingmen  of  this  country  is  impressing 
itsel*  more  and  more  upon  the  minds  of  labor  organizations 
and  their  leaders.     It  is    among  the  poor,    the    laboring 
classes,  that  intemperance  does  its  most  destructive  work. 

3.  Strength  of  the  Saloon. — The  hold  that  the  saloon 
has  upon  the  laboring  classes  is  realized  only  when  we  at- 
tempt to  estimate  the  proportion  of  their  earnings  that  the 
saloon  receives.    Then  again;  rich  men  have  their  social 
clubs,  but  especially  in  our  large   cities  is  it  true  that  the 
saloon  attempts  to  provide  for  social  gatherings.  In  this  way 
thousands  are  misled. 

4.  Saloon  in   Politics. — What  makes  it  all   the  more 
powerful  is  that  very  frequently  the  saloon  controls  politics. 
Political  parties  must  at  least  be  silent  on  the  temperance 
question,  or  else  they  will  lose  the  vote  of   the  laboring 
classes.     In  many  cases  the  saloon  dictates  the  platforms 
and  candidates. 

5.  Economic  Aspects. — Viewing  it    only  as  to  its  eco- 
nomic aspects  it  towers  above  every  other  question.    The 
magnitude  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  immense  and  the  cost  is 
paid  not  by  the  millionaire  but  by  the' industrial  classes. 

6.  Estimates  of  Cost. — It  is  estimated  that  the  direct 
cost  of  the  drink  traffic  for  1890  was  $765,000,000.     Besides 
this  the  indirect  losses  from  drink  through  loss  of  work  by 
hard  drinkers,  poor  workmanship  of  drinking  classes,  death 
of  drunkards,  and  the  poverty  and  crime  induced  by  drink 
for  the  same  year  reach  $453,000,000.    This  makes  a  total 
loss  of  $1,218,000,000  in  one  year  to  the  country  because  of 
strong  drink.     Whether  it  is  a  sound  financial  policy  to  en- 
courage or  even  to  permit  a  positive  lo-s  of  nearly  one  and 
one-quarter  billions  of   dollars  to  the  people  in  order  that 
the  government   may  gain   a   revenue  of  $137,263,974,  the 
revenue  for  1890,  is  a  question  easily  answered. 

7.  The  Moral  Aspect  — The  moral  aspect   cannot  be 
reckoned  in  dollars  and  cents,  but  a  study   of  the  question 
will  demonstrate  the  fact  that  the  financial  ruin  that  it  brings 
upon  the  nation  is  slight   compared  to   the  demoralization 
and  utter  ruin  of  noble  manhood. 

8.  Universally  Recognized  Evil.— That  the  drink  traffic 
is  universally  recognized  as  an  evil  is  a  fact,but  the  many  dif- 
ferent plans,  ideas,  and  opinions  of   men  as  to  how  to  re- 
move the  evil  has  prevented  a  united  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  better  element  of  society,  and  has  thwarted  much  of 
the  work  that  has  been  done,  and  hindered  the  progress  of 
the  work  in  general. 

32 


486  INTEMPERANCE, 

9.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.— Among  all  the  agencies  at  work 
to  suppress  the  drink  traffic  none  is  more  widely  known  and 
none  has  had  such  an  influence  in  bringing  to  public  notice 
the  evils  thereof  and  in  awakening  the  conscience  of  the 
American  citizen  as  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union. 

10.  Organization,  Methods  and   Scope. — It  was  organ- 
ized in   1874.     Its  methods    are    preventive,    educational, 
evangelistic,  social  and  legal.  .  With  its  forty  departments 
it  has  widened  its  scope  until  there  is  no  wrong  against 
which  it  has  not  lifted  up  its  voice,  nor  good  with  which  it 
is  not  allied.    The  importance  of  the  organization  prompts 
us  to  give  an  outline  of  the  work  of  a  few  of  its  many  de- 
partments. 

11.  Preventive. — This  Department  aims  to  extend  the 
reverent  study  of  God's  health  decalogue,  with  a  view  to 
best  methods  of  daily  living,  and  by  wise  and  careful  words 
to  teach  the  power  and  force  of  Heredity  in  races  and  indi- 
viduals, and  its  relation  to  healthy  and  diseased  conditions, 
through  Heredity  institutes,  the  circulation  of  literature  and 
addresses  by  lady  physicians,  especially  to  mothers. 

12.  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction. — This    Depart- 
ment aims  to  secure  such   legislation,  local  and  state,  as 
shall  make  the  study  and  teaching  of  the  laws  of  health, 
with  special  reference  to  the  effect  of  stimulants  and  nar- 
cotics upon  the  human  body,  obligatory  throughout  the  en- 
tire system  of  public  education,  and  to  secure  active  per- 
sonal sympathy  and  co-operation   in  temperance  work,  on 
the  part  of  the  college  students  of  the  land.      Its  plans  in- 
clude addresses,  leaflets,  open  letters,  circulation  of  litera- 
ture, and  organization  wherever  practicable. 

That  it  has  succeeded  is  clearly  and  forcibly  shown  by 
the  accompanying  map. 

13.  The  Press. — This  department  aims  to  provide  the 
press,  both  religious  and  secular,  with  the  latest  and  most 
important  news  concerning  the   Woman's  Christian   Tem- 
perance Union  work  in  every  department. 

14.  Narcotics. — The   aim  of  this  department  is  to  edu- 
cate the  people  in  regard  to  the  effects  of  tobacco,  opium 
and  other  narcotics  upon  the  body  and  the  brain,  with  a 
view  to  the  extermination  of  the  habit  of  using  and  of  the 
traffic  in  the  same.    Also  to  secure  laws  governing  the  sale 
of  Narcotics. 

15.  Penal  and  Reformatory.— This    Department    aims 
to  carry  Gospel  Temperance  to  the  inmates  of  prisons  and 
jails;  to  co-operate  in  the  work  of  Prisoners'  Aid  Associa- 
tions; to  aid  in  establishing  Women's  Reformatory  Prisons 
and  Industrial  Homes  for  the  criminal  classes;  to  secure 


INTEMPERANCE. 


487 


X  Study  mandatory.  *  Penalty  attached  to  law.  t  Required  of  all  pu- 
pils. $  Text  book  required.  ||  Study  to  be  taught  in  same  manner  and  as 
thoroughly  as  other  branches.  §  Text  booke  on  topic  must  give  one-fourth 
Bpaee  to  temperance.  U  Examination  on  subject  required  of  teachers. 
—  Text  books  must  give  full  and  adequate  space  to  temperance  matters. 


488  INTEMPERANCE. 


the  appointment-of  women  on  State  Boards  of  Charities  and 
the  maintenance  of  matrons  in  all  prisons  and  police 
stations  where  women  are  arrested  or  imprisoned. 

16.  Purity. — This  department  aims  to  exhibit  the  rela- 
tions existing  between  the  drink  habit  and  the  nameless 
habits,  outrages  and  crimes  which  disgrace  modern  civili- 
zation; and  especially  to  point  out  the  brutalizing  influence 
of  malt  liquors  upon  the  social  nature. 

It  seeks  to  estafciish  a  single  code  of  morals,  and  to 
maintain  the  law  of  purity  as  equally  binding  upon  men 
and  women.  It  has  in  view  a  distinct  effort  to  impress  upon 
the  minds  of  men  and  women,  youth  and  maidens,  the  abso 
lute  demands  of  religion  and  physiology  for  purity  in 
thought,  word  and  deed. 

It  will  endeavor  to  secure  legislation  of  a  character  cal- 
culated to  protect  the  honor  and  purity  of  the  young,  and 
defend  women  and  girls  from  the  depravity  of  brutal  men. 

17.  Legal.  —This  department  aims  to  secure  prohibition 
by  constitutional  and  statutory  law  in  every  state  and  terri- 
tory, and  to  secure  a  prohibitory  amendment  to  the  National 
Constitution.     Methods  are  varied,  as  the  manifold  work  of 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.     As  all  roads  once  led  to  Rome,  so   every 
purpose  and  plan  points  to  the  consummation  denned   un- 
der this  all-embracing  "aim." 

18.  Christian  Citizenship. — 

Object. — To  study  the  science  of  government  and  the 
rights  and  duties  of  citizens,  to  educate  and  influence  voters, 
to  combat  the  evils  of  organized  society  at  the  caucus,  con- 
vention and  ballot-box. 

Standpoint. — This  is  Christian.  Christian  principles  and 
ethical  standards  must  be  introduced  and  maintained  in  all 
the  social  and  political  relations  of  mankind. 

19.  Temperance  Temple. — 

The  meetings  of  the  Chicago  W.  C.  T.  U.  were  held  in 
the  old  Farwell  hall  until  it  was  set  apart  exclusively  for 
young  men.  Through  the  untiring  energy  and  zeal  of  the 
president  of  the  Chicago  Union,  Matilda  B.  Carse,  an  im- 
mense office  building  known  as  The  Temple  has  been 
erected  at  a  cost  of  $1,265,000.  Friends  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
throughout  the  wide  world  are  paying  for  this  building.  Its 
yearly  income  from  rental  of  offices  when  fully  paid  for  will 
be  over  $200,000,  all  of  which  is  to  be  used  in  carrying  on 
the  temperance  work.  Every  day  at  noon  a  meeting  is  held 
in  Willard  Hall,  ri  this  building,  that  results  in  the  rescuing 
of  many  from  a  drunkard's  grave.  This  Temple  is  known 
everywhere  as  the  national  building  of  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union. 


INTEMPERANCE. 


THE  TEMPLE. 


20.  The  Keeley  Cure. — In  recent  years  the  Keeley  cure 
has  become  very  prominent  in  temperance  work.   Many  who 
were  being    ruined    by    strong    drink    have  through   this 
remedy  been  restored  to  manhood  and  give  promise  of  use- 
ful citizenship.     It  is  best  to  keep  from  falling,  but  to  those 
over  whom  the  drink  habit  has  control,  this  cure  comes  as  a 
blessed  boon.     The  principal  establishment  is  at  Dwight,  111. 

21.  Other  Organizations. — There  are  other  numerous 
organizations  that    are   doing  effective  temperance   work. 
The  churches  and  auxiliary  societies  are  creating  a  senti- 
ment that  will  make  itself  felt.     The  Prohibition  party  has 
by  its   determined  defense  of  what  it  believes  to  be  the 
dominant  issue  in  politics  done  much  to  awaken  the  citizen  to 
a  realization  of  the  danger  ahead  and  his  duty  in  the  matter. 

22.  The    One    Thing    Needful. — There   is  a  sufficient 
number  of  loyal,  patriotic,  and  wideawake  citizens  to  banish 
the  drink  traffic  from  the  land.    These  may  see  the  great  evil 
of  the  traffic,  but  are  still  at  variance  as  to  the  treatment  to 
be  given  to  it.     When  all  Christian,  patriotic,  and    liberty- 
loving  American  citizens  stand  united,  the  greatest  enemy 
of  the  toiling  masses,  the  greatest  foe   of  our  nation,   the 
greatest  hindrance  to  prosperity  will  speedily  be  removed 
from  the  land. 


490  THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  AMERICAN  TRAMP 

The  Problem  of  the  American  Tramp. 

1.  Honest   Laboring   Men. — Any  one   whose  memory 
reaches  back  a  score  of  years  can  well  remember  that  the 
first  tramps  were  honest  laboring  men  seeking  employment. 
Men  driven  from  home  and  the  restraint  of  home  life,  and 
thrown  into  contact  with  others  of  their  class  with  nothing 
to  do,  could  not  long  remain  innocent;  smarting  under  an 
indefinable  sense  of  wrong  done  them  by  society,  soon  be- - 
coming  objects  of  suspicion,  they  naturally  became  more 
or  less  criminals. 

2.  The  Terrible  Tramp. — Find  fault  as  we  may,  the 
terrible  tramp  is  upon  us;  he  has  tramped  out,  and  goes  on 
tramping  out  the  sense  of  security  enjoyed  by  dwellers  in 
town  and  country  alike.     He  has  well  nigh  tramped  out  that 
beautiful  hospitality  once  habitual  with  us,  so  that  we  dare 
not  use  hospitality  to  strangers,  and  so  fail  of  the  privilege  of 
"sometimes  entertaining  angels  unawares,"  and  of  obeying 
the  Scriptures'  injunction.    His  heavy  footfall  has  well  nigh 
smothered  out  our  love  for  men  as  men,  and  I  fear,  has  seri- 
ously impaired  our  love  for  their  Creator.     "  If  a  man  love 
not  his  brother  whom   he  has  seen,  how  can  he  love  God 
whom  he  hath  not  seen?  "     If  history,  as  it  is  wont  to  do,  re- 
peats itself   in   our  case,  our  posterity  may  find   that  the 
tramp  has  changed  the  whole  aspect  and  customs  of  our 
country. 

3.  Drunkenness. — Drunkenness  is  a  tramp-producing 
eice.     Few  of  the  men  who  are  to-day  tramping  the  country 
[or  bread  and  shelter  no  doubt  found  plenty  of  employment 
and   friends  when  they  were   sober  and  honestly  sought 
work.     But  when  they  began  to  drink   they   went  rapidly 
down  from  bad  to  worse  until  they  were  forced  from  com- 
munity to  community  in  search  of  employment  among  those 
who  knew  not  of  their  vices,   but  their  appearance  and 
character  soon  condemned  them  and  they  were  doomed  to 
become  outcasts. 

4.  Crime. — There  is  but  one  step  from  drunkenness  to 
crime  and  many  of  those  who  are  tramping  to-day  have 
been  guilty  of  some  lesser  or  greater  crime  and  in  seeking 
ta  escape  the  penalties  of  the  law  they  have  become  habitual 
tramps  unknown  and  unknowable. 

5.  Remedy. — The  first  thing  in  restoring  the  reign  of 
justice  and  to  help  the  helpless  and  to  protect  the   inno- 
cent is  to  break  down  the  terrible  power  of   strong  drinks. 
With  the  intellect  sobered  and  the   hands  steadied  a  man 
may  soon  be  able  to  see  plainly  for  himself  and  make  pro- 
visions for  his  own  prosperity.    A  clear  head  and  a  strong 


492  THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  AMERICAN  TRAMP 

arm  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  life  a  success.  Wipe 
out  the  saloons  and  you  will  destroy  one  of  the  most  fruitful 
sources  of  the  present  tramp  nuisance. 

6.  Mistaken  Ideas. — It  must  be  remembered  that 
every  man  who  is  traveling  over  the  country  in  search  of 
employment  is  not  a  tramp;  many  of  them  are  honestly- 
seeking  employment,  this  has  been  demonstrated  repeated- 
ly and  every  man  deserves  respect  until  by  some  work  or 
act  he  has  proved  himself  unworthy. 


HOMELESS,  BUT  WILLING  TO  WORK. 

The  author  and  compiler  of  this  work  was  once  a  boy 
tramp.  He  tramped  the  country  with  all  his  worldly  pos- 
sessions under  his  arm  in  search  of  employment,  but  when 
employment  was  found  he  faithfully  served  one  employer, 
six  years  at  hard  farm  labor.  If  a  sober-looking  fellow 
with  an  honest-looking  face  comes  along  and  you  need 
help  give  him  a  fair  trial.  The  writer  found  one  of  the  best 
and  most  faithful  of  men  by  giving  breakfast  to  a  hungry 
man  and  then  set  him  to  work.  Be  charitable  and 
thank  God  that  your  lot  is  not  that  of  a  poor  man  out  of 
employment. 


THE  TRAMP  WHO  HAD  TO  EARN  HIS  MEAL. 


493 


494 


THE  'PROBLEM  OP  THE  AMERICAN  TRAMP, 


7.  The  Great  Problem.— What  shall  be  done  with  the 
tramp  who  will  not  work,  who  is  not  seeking  to  better  his 
present  condition,  but  has  drifted  into  this  habit  of  a  tramp 
simply  because  he  does  not  care  to  be  anything  else?  is  the 
great  problem   staring   the  people  of  this  country  in   the 
race.     Laws  have  been  enacted  by  different  municipal  cor- 
porations to  work  the  tramps  upon  the  streets;  imprison- 
ment and  other  punishments  have  been  tried,  but  yet  the 
tramp  nuisance  increases,  it  is  growing  instead  of  becoming 
less.    There  is  not  a  scarcity  of   work,  but  the  difficulty  lies 
in  a  proper  adjustment  between  labor  and  capital.     It  is  no 
doubt  true  that  the  present  revenues  lost  to  the  legitimate 
business  of  the  country  by  the  manufacturing  sale  of  liquor 
would  feed  and  clothe  and  give  employment  to  every  man 
willing  to  work. 

8.  The  Best  Remedy. — Never  feed  a  tramp  unless  you 
first  have  him  earn  his  meal.     It  is  an  education  that  has  a 
good  effect  upon  a  hungry  stomach  and  it  is  a  proper  time  to 
impress  a  good  wholesome  lesson.     If  you  have  nothing  to 
do  buy  a  cord   of  wood  and  keep  it  in  readiness  for  the 
hungry  tramp.     Thirty  minutes'  work  will  fully  demonstrate 
his  worthiness  for  charity.    By  enforcing  this  rule — no  work 
no  meal — you  will  soon  cease  to  be  annoyed  by  the  profes- 
sional tramp. 


ON  A  COMMERCIAL  TRIP. 


AflMlfcS.  49 

Industrial  Armies. 

1.  Coxeyites. — Compared  with  a  great,  definite,  grim 
struggle  like  the  strike  or  the  miners  for  honest  treatment 
and  for  the  restoration  of  the  irreducible  minimum  of  liv- 
ing wages,  the  numerous  bands  of  adventurers  known  as 
"  industrial  armies  "  or  "  Coxeyites  "  are  but  the  by-play  of 
the  social  movement.    They  lie  merely  upon  the  surface  of 
the  situation,  and  indicate  nothing  in  particular  excepting 
a  considerable  amount  of  unrest  and  uneasiness  in  the  world 
of  labor.    They  are  very  different  from  the  marching  mobs 
of  half- starved    men  who    sometimes  parade  in   London 
demanding  work  or  bread. 

2.  American  Love  of  Adventure. — The  largest  ingredi- 
ent in  the  great  mixture  of  impulses  to  which  this  fantas- 
tic industrial  army  movement  is  due  is  the  American  love  of 
adventure,  excitement  and  change.    There  has  been  no  indi- 
cation of  crushed  spirits,  sullen  despair  or  hopeless  misery. 
On  the  contrary,  the  most  flourishing  of  these  armies  have 
exhibited  some  of  the  same  buoyant  mood  that  leads  men 
to  flock  to  new  mining  camps  or  to  march  in  political 
parades.    A  nation  that  has  grown  as  rapidly  as  ours,  and 
that  has  shown  so  marvelous  a  mobility  in  the  tidal  ebbs  and 
flows- of  its  population,  has  always  to  reckon  upon  a  consid- 
erable element  of  men  who  lack  the  sense  of  attachment  to 
locality,  and  who  find  change  and  adventure  essential  to 
their  happiness.    A  great  number  of  these  roving  spirits 
have  found  their  way  to  remote  parts  of  the  West,  and  have 
engaged  transiently  in  mining  and  various  other  pursuits. 

3.  Cause  of  Coxeyism. — The  temporary  paralysis  that 
has  overtaken  the  industries  of  the  West  has  revived  the 
migratory  instinct  in  many  hundreds  of  these  men  of  slight 
local  attachment  and  of  no  domestic  impediments.     Con- 
sequently they  rally  readily  enough  around  the  banner  of  a 
"General"  Frye,  or  a  "General"    Kelly,  or  any  one  of 
20  other  "generals,"    and  are  more  than    willing  to    try 
the  adventure  of  a  march  on  Washington.    Their  disposi- 
tion to  steal  rides  on  freight  trains,  and  even  to  steal  the 
trains  themselves,  has  certainly  been  reprehensible,  yet  it 
is  only  fair  to  distinguish  between  their  lawless  conduct  and 
that  of  out-and-out  criminals  and  highway  robbers. 

4.  The  Social  Phenomena. — The  social  phenomena  of 
the  depressed  periods  that  follow  money  panics  and  indus- 
trial crises  in  the  United  States  are  worth  studying.    Levity 
on  a  vast  scale  is  always  sure  to  assert  itself.    After  all,  the 
key  to  an  understanding  of  American  life  is  to  be  found  in 
our  American  kindliness  and  sense  of  humor.    While  very 


496  INDUSTRIAL  ARMIES. 

many  earnest  gentlemen  with  knitted  brows  are  endeavor- 
ing to  fathom  the  deep  significance  that  underlies  "Coxey- 
ism,"  and  the  simultaneous  desire  of  numerous  companies 
of  American  citizens  to  proceed  to  Washington  with  peti- 
tions for  "good  roads,"  and  schemes  for  paper-money  mil- 
lenniums, it  may  seem  like  scandalous  trifling  to  declare 
that  the  whole  movement  is  essentially  a  light-hearted  one, 
yet  such  is  the  truth. 

5.  Well-Meaning  Fellows. — For  the    most    part    the 
various  "armies"  have  been  composed  of  well-meaning  f  el- 
lows  who  have  not  a  bit  either  of  dangerous  malevolence  or 
of  lofty  social  idealism  in  their  hearts  or  minds,  and  whc 
have  no  more  affiliation  with  blood-thirsty  anarchists  than 
have  the  children  of  a  Philadelphia  Sunday-school.  It  is  true 
that  an  element  of  good-for-nothing  tramps  has  infested  the 
armies  to  some  extent/but  this  class  has  not  been  pre- 
dominant. 

6.  A  Lack  of  Work. — We  have  in  the  past  six  months 
been  face  to  face  with  most  serious  problems  presented  by 
a  lack  of  work  for  hundreds  of    thousands  in  our  great 
cities;8  and  within  a  few  weeks  we  have  witnessed  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country  some  frightful  scenes  of  disorder  in 
connection  with  bitterly  contested  strikes.  These  have  been 
\he  serious  features  of  the  year's    industrial    depression. 
The  Coxey  march  and  other  kindred  diversions  have,  on 
the  contrary,  helped  to  relieve  the  strain  and  to  maintain  the 
national  cheerfulness. 

7.  The  Lawless  Spirit. — It  is  true  that  we  ought  to 
view  with  great  solemnity  and  alarm  the  lawless  spirit 
shown  by  companies  of  men  who  have  dodged  the  deputy 
marshals,  police,  squads  and   cavalry  detachments,  while 
speeding  across  the  country  on  railroad  trains  borrowed  with- 
out consent  of  the  owners.     Yet  to  be  perfectly  frank   and 
truthful,  we  must  confess  that  almost  everybody  has  looked 
on  with  more  amusement  than  solemnity.     When  the  busi- 
ness revival   comes  and  work  is   plenty  the  temptation  to 
steal  rides  and  go  to  Washington  in  advocacy  of  Mr.  Coxey's 
good  roads  bill  and  other  theoretical  propositions  will  vanish 
as  by  magic. 

8.  Treatment. — It  is  worth  while  to  note  the  fact  that 
the  "armies"  have  been  treated  with  almost  universal  kind- 
ness by  the  people  along  their  routes  of  travel;    and  apart 
from  their  evil  propensity  for  stolen  rides,  the    banded 
adventurers  have  done  no  harm  worth  mentioning.    It  has 
been  a  great  mistake  to  denounce  them  as  if  they  were 
bands  of  criminals  or  anything  else  than  what  they  are, 
namely,  bodies  of  American  pilgrims  bound  on  a  merely 


498  CAUSES  AND  EFFECTS  OF  TRUSTS 

fantastic  and  adventurous  journey,  under  the  leadership  of 
ill-informed  and  visionary  men  whose  energy  and  capacity 
for  organization  happen  to  find  an  outlet  in  this  plan  of  a 
march  to  Washington.  The  Kelley  army  has  been  much 
more  interesting  than  Coxey's,  and  the  tale  of  its  journey  on 
flatboats  down  the  Des  Moines  river  from  the  capital  of 
Iowa  makes  a  really  romantic  chapter,  and  one  worth  the 
attention  of  any  student  of  practical  social  conditions. 
General  Kelley's  performance,  however,  like  General 
Coxey's,  is  appropos  of  nothing  in  particular.  It  is  merely 
a  fresh  evidence  of  the  elasticity  of  the  American  spirit. 


Causes  and  Effects  of  Trusts. 

1.  Original  Meaning. — Trust,  in  its  original  meaning, 
is  a  good  word  and  means  a  good  thing,  but  it  has  got  into 
bad  company.    Perhaps  it  would  be  more  accurate  to  say 
that  there  is  a  party  or  well-born  and  well-bred  words  which 
are  sowing  wild  oats,  and  which  there  is  every  reason  to 
fear  will  go  to  the  bad.    The  other  prominent  members  of 
the  company  are  the  words   "combine"  and  "deal;"  but 
"trust"  is  the  ringleader. 

2.  What  Is  a  Trust? — Let  us  define  it  as  a  corporation 
of  corporations,  or  a  corporation  of  the  second  degree.    A 
corporation  is  an  artificial  person.     It  is  a  creation  of  the 
law.     It  has  some  of  the  civil  rights  of  individual  citizens, 
and  is  subject  to  a  corresponding  degree  of  obligation.  The 
corporation  may  sue  and  be  sued;  it  is  entitled  to  the  pro- 
tection of  its  property;  it  is  required  to  pay  taxes.     Where- 
as a  man  has  certain  natural  rights,  a  corporation  has  those 
only  which  are  conferred  by  the  Legislature. 

3.  Our  Grandfathers. — Ouf  grandfathers  watched  the 
beginning  and  the  growth  of  corporate  wealth  and   power 
with  extreme  jealousy.     More  than  one  state  political  con- 
vention in  the  first  half  of  this  century  declared  its  opposi- 
tion to  the  chartering  of  any  corporation  for  business  pur- 
poses.   The  "trust"  is  an  extension  of  the  principle  of  the 
corporation.     But  it  does  not  follow  that,  because  some  of 
the  early  objections  to    corporations    were   unreasonable, 
therefore  the  hostility  to  trusts  will  be  found  to  have  been 
based  on  prejudice  and  passion. 

4.  Without  the  Permission  of  the  State. — A  trust  is  a 
combination  of  corporations,  banded  together  under  one 
management  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the  manufacture 


500  CAUSES  AND  EFFECTS  OF  TRUSTS. 

of  or  trade  in  some  article  of  extensive  use.  Usually  it  is 
not  chartered,  that  is,  it  is  not  a  corporation  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  the  word,  but  is  a  voluntary  association,  which 
keeps  secret  its  organization,  its  doings  and  its  profits. 
Thus  it  may  be,  and  in  some  cases  is,  an  "artificial  person" 
which  exists  without  the  permission  of  the  state. 

5.  The  Chief  Objection.— The  chief  objection  to  the 
trust  is  that  a  practical  monopoly  may  be  created.    In  fact, 
if  a  monopoly  is  not  established  the  purpose  of  organizing 
the  trust  fails  of  accomplishment.    For  example — to  take 
an  illustration  from  a  trade  in  which  there  is  no  trust — there 
are  1,200  or  more  corporations,  firms  and  persons  in  this 
country  engaged  in  the  cotton  manufacture.    Some  of  the 
corporations  are  huge  affairs.    One  in  New  Hampshire  is 
the  greatest  in  the  world  which  is  engaged  in  this  trade.   No 
harm  results  from  the  existence  of  these  great  corporations 
because,  being  scattered  over  the  country  and  having  diverse 
interests,  they  compete  with  each  other.    But  if  they  were 
all  to  combine  they  would  control  the  labor  of  spinners  and 
weavers,  they  would    regulate  production    in  such  a  way 
as  to  maintain  prices  at  a  surely  profitable  level,  and  in 
various  other  ways  would  deprive  the  community  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  competition. 

6.  Concentrating  Great  Capital. — Moreover,  there  is  a 
strong  feeling  in  the  minds  of  many  people  who  are  by  no 
means  infected  with  socialistic  views  that  discouragement 
and  not  encouragement  should  be  given  to  the  practice  of 
concentrating  great  capital,  and  consequently  great  power, 
in  the  hands  of  a  few  men,  officers  and  managers  of  such 
aggregates  of  corporations. 

7.  Grander  Scale. — These  are  the  reasons  urged  against 
sanctioning  trusts.    There  is  something  to  be  said  in  their 
favor,  namely,  that  they  make  industrial  developments  pos- 
sible, on  a  grander  scale  than  ever.    But  not  many  men 
hold  that  this  advantage  counterbalances  the  necessary 
evils;  and  no  person,  at  least  no  one  who  desires  political 
preferment,  ventures  to  say  even  as  much  as  that  in  their 
favor. 

8.  High  Protection.— It  is  no  doubt  true  that  the  sys- 
tem of  high  protective  tariff  has  a  tendency  to  produce 
trusts.    Trusts  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  schemes  to 
rob  the  consumer.    The  poor  simply  are  compelled  to  con- 
tribute to  the  wealth  and  support  of  the  privileged  and  pro- 
jected classes  of  manufacturers. 


SHALL  THE   GOVERNMENT   OWN  THE   RAILROADS?    501 


The  Effects  of  Monopoly. 

Shall  the  Government  Own  the  Rail- 
roads? 

1.  This  question  is  considerably  agitated  and  various 
opinions  are  held,  and  there  are  many  strong  points  on  both 
sides. 

2.  Agitation  for  Government  Ownership. — The   agita- 
tation  for  government  ownership  for  railroads  has  always 
been,  in  this  country,  more  active  and  general.  The  demand 
has  recently  been  repeatedly  made  by  the  national  state 
conventions  of  the  Populist  party.     There  are  now  repre- 
senting that  party  in  Congress  thirteen  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives.   There  are  many  people  also  outside  of  this 
organization  that  would  like  to  see  the  government  own  and 
control  all  the  railroads  of  the  country. 

3.  A  Surprising  Fact. — It  is  a  surprising  fact  that  in 
most  countries  of  the  world  that  states  own  and  operate 
their  own   railroads.      Great   Britain,   United   States    and 
Spain,  Switzerland  and  Turkey  are  the  only  countries  where 
railroads  are  not  owned  and  operated  by  the  government. 
Railroads  in  all  the  other  countries  are  owned,  controlled 
and  operated  by  the  government.     In  countries  where  the 
government  owns  the  railroads,  it  is  claimed  they  have  not  as 
good  accommodations  for  the  public  as  where  they  are 
owned  by  private  corporations,  as  government  ownership 
destroys  all  competition.      In  answer  to  this  we  say  that 
our  mail  system  is  the  best  in  the  world,  and  it  is  entirely 
beyond  competition,  as  ft  is  exclusively  a  government  enter- 
prise. 


502     SHALL  THE   GOVERNMENT  OWN  THE   RAILROADS? 


4.  Private  Enterprises. — It  is  admitted  on  all  hands 
that  railroads  are  not  purely  private  enterprises.    The  com- 
panies which  own  them  have  received  valuable  privileges 
from  the  public — the  right  to  buy  land  whether  the  owner 
did  or  did  not  wish  to  sell,  the  right  to  cross  highways,  and 
a  certain  monopoly  of  the  public  travel.    States,  counties 
and  cities  have  burdened  themselves  with  debt  in  order  to 
provide  themselves  with  railroad  communication. 

5.  Great  Britain. — Great  Britain  differs  from  its  own 
colonies  in  this  regard,  for  in  nearly  all  of  the  British  de- 
pendencies the  governments  own  the  railways.    But  in  every 
country — even  in  England  and   the   United  States,  where 
the  railroads  are  freest  from  public  control — is  the  principle 
fully  admitted  that  the  government  may  decide  what  is  for 
the  interest  of  the  public,  and  may  require  the  railroad  cor- 
porations to  conform  thereto. 


The  Great  Tunnel. 


6.  How  Much  Control? — Since,  then,  government  may, 
must  and  does  assume  some  control  of  the  railways,  the 
only  question  left  is,  How  much  control?  When  our  legis- 
lators come  to  answer  this  question  they  are  confronted 
with  the  fact  that  they  cannot,  if  they  would,  clp  what  the, 
lawmakers  of  France  or  Germany  do. 


RIGHT  OF  GOVERNMENT  TO  CONTROL  RAILWAYS.    503 

7.  Confusion  to  Our  Home  Commerce. — It  is  agreed 
that  only  confusion  would  result  to  our  home  commerce 
from  the  ownership  of  the  railroads  by  the  separate  states. 
Has  Congress  power  to  buy  them  up?    If  it  has  the  power 
could  the  government  safely  assume  the  cost  of  purchasing 
them?    They  were  capitalized  at  the  latest  estimate  at  over 
ten  billions  of  dollars. 

8.  Individual  Enterprise. — It  is  urged  by  the  advocates 
of  private  ownership  that  this  system  not  only  is  the  sole 
system  that  is  adapted  to  our  political  and  social  principles, 
which  leave  individual  enterprise  as  free  as  possible  from 
government  control,  but  that  it  has,  both  in  the  United 
States  and  England,  resulted  in  a  more  convenient,  ample, 
cheap  and  expeditious  service  of  the  public  than  is  usual 
in  countries  where  railroads  are  owned  or  operated  by  the 
state. 

9.  Competition. — They  urge  that  those  who  have  to 
compete  for  the  business  of  the  people  will,  from  self- 
interest,  do  all  they  can  to  serve  the  people  well,  and  they 
maintain  that  pooling  arrangement  and  trusts  which  might 
neutralize  this  competition  are  already  prevented  by  legis- 
lation, even  to  the  extent  of  making  their  business  unprofit- 
able.    They  also  urge  the  great  political  danger  of  adding 
the  vast  army  of  railway  employes,  who  numbered  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-three  thousand  in  1893,  to  the  civil 
service  of  the  government. 

These  are  the  two  sides  of  the  question.  It  is  a  very 
large  question,  incapable  of  settlement  in  any  brief  or  sum- 
mary way;  it  involves  a  great  number  of  practical  and  com- 
mercial considerations,  as  well  as  considerations  of  govern- 
ment and  statesmanship. 


Right  of  Government  to  Control 
Railways. 

1.  The  Constitution. — When  the  Constitution  gave  to 
Congress  the  exclusive    power  of    regulating    commerce 
between  the  states,  the  stage-coach,  the  road-wagon    and 
water-craft  were  the  only  vehicles  used  in  carrying  on  traffic 
between  the  citizens  of  one  state  and  those  of  another.     M 

2.  First  Assertion  -of  Authority. — Many  years    after 
railways  had  replaced  the  stage-coach    the    government 
began  its  first  assertion  of  authority  over  these  steam  high- 


504      RIGHT  OF  GOVERNMENT  TO  CONTROL  RAILWAYS. 

ways.  That  assumption  of  authority  was  made  necessary 
by  the  wide  development  of  the  railway  postal  service,  and 
also  by  the  use  of  some  of  the  railways  as  military  highways. 
These  were  roads  which  had  received  land  grants  and  other 
government  aid. 

3.  Examples  of  the  Extension  of   the    Power. — Our 
national  history  is  full  of  examples  of  the  extension  of  the 
power  of  the  general  government  in  ways  which  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution  could  not  have  foreseen.    Robert  Fulton's 
assumption  of  the  monopoly  of  the  Hudson  river  for  his 
steamboats  was  followed  by  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  giving  to  the  government  exclu- 
sive control  of  all  navigable  waters.    Thus  it  was  that  pur 
great  rivers  and  lakes  became  free  water  highways,  subject 
only  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

4.  Discriminating  Taxes. — The  refusal  of  a  commercial 
traveler  to  pay  a  license  demanded  by  the  authorities  of 
one  of  the  southern  cities  brought  forth  after  long  litigation, 
an  opinion  from  the  Supreme  Court  which  put  an  end  to  all 
attempts  by  the  citizens  of  one  state  to  make  discriminating 
taxes  against  those  of  another  state. 

5.  Authority  Enlarged. — In  many  other  cases  decided 
by  the  Supreme  Court  the  authority  of  the  nation  has  been 
seemingly  enlarged,  although  the  judges  have  frequently 
asserted  that  there  is  no  power  in  the  courts  to  enlarge  the 
powers  of  the  government.     The  Supreme  Court  can  only 
determine  with  precision  those  powers. 

6.  Pullman  Strike. — It  is  under  decisions  of  the  United 
States  judges  that  the  government  in  the  Pullman  strike 
asserted  its  authority  to  call  out  Federal  troops  thereby  to 
prevent  interruptions  to  the  commerce  between  the  states, 
whjch  is  carried  on  mainly  by  the  railway  companies. 

7.  Powers  of  the  Constitution. — Of  course  the  powers 
of  the  Constitution  could  have  had  no  specific  purpose  of 
giving  the  government  such  authority,  since  the  first  steam 
railway  was  not  operated  in  the  United  States  until  nearly 
forty  years  after  the  Constitution  was  adopted.    But  the 
authority  is  a  necessary  one  for  the  supreme  government  to 
exercise  in  the  interest  of  the  people,  and  it  is  inferred  log- 
ically from  the  language  of  the  Constitution. 

8.  Right   to  Control   Railways.— The  assertion  of  a 
right    to    control    railways,    which    was    the    justification 
of    the    Interstate    Commerce    act,    carries    with    it    the 
idea  that  such  lines  of  communication  are  essential  to 
the    public   convenience,   and,    therefore,  implies  a  duty 
to  protect  the  roads  themselves,  if  not  the  corporations 
which  own  them. 


RIGHT  OF   GOVERNMENT  TO   CONTROL  RAILWAYS.    505 

9.  Treason. — Hence,  the  intimation  by  the  President  is 
well  sustained,  that  those  who  so  obstruct  railways  as  to 
paralyze  commerce  between  the  states,  are  public  enemies. 
And  the  short  name  of  the  offense  of  citizens  who  become 
public  enemies  is  treason. 

10.  Civil  Service. — The  central  authority  now  has  con- 
trol over  more  than  100,000  employes  in  the  civil  service. 
To  increase  that  number  by  adding  nearly  a  million  ser- 
vants might  correct  evils  in  railway  management  at  the 
expense  of  the  government  itself.     Moreover,  if  the  govern- 
ment took  charge  of  the  railways  it  would  hereby  be  com- 
pelled to  bring  the  telegraph  and  express  service  under  its 
control.   That  is  a  consummation  which  some  men  earnestly 
desire,  but  it  is  also  one  to  which  many  far-seeing  men  look 
forward  with  sincere  and  deep  solicitude. 


HON.  THOS.  F.  BAYARD, 
Ambassador  to  England  under  Cleveland. 


506 


PRINCIPLES  OF 


Revenue  Collector's  Office. 

The  Principles  of  Protection. 

Protection,  in  relation  to  the  industries  of  a  country  (in 
which  sense  the  word  is  generally  used),  means  the  preven- 
tion of  ruinous  foreign  competition.  This  may  be  accom- 
plished (1)  by  absolutely  prohibiting  the  importation  of  cer- 
tain articles;  (2)  by  levying  a  duty  on  them  that  is  practi- 
cally prohibitive;  (3)  by  granting  premiums  on  certain  ex- 
ports; (4)  by  granting  drawbacks,  which  are  rebates  of  the 
whole,  or  nearly  the  whole,  duty  that  has  been  paid  on  im- 
ported materials  when  these  have  been  manufactured  at 
home  and  exported;  or  (5)  by  so  arranging  the  rates  of  duty 
on  importations  as  to  make  their  cost  to  the  consumer  equal 
to  or  greater  than  the  cost  of  similar  domestic  products. 
The  first  three  methods  are  not  relied  upon  in  this  country 
for  purposes  of  protection,  while  the  last  two  have  been  ana 
are  still  extensively  used.  The  last  method  is  the  more 


TttE  frRINCttLES  OF  PROTECTION.  $0t 

prominent,  and  around  it  the  arguments  for  and  against 
protection  group  themselves.  The  reasoning  of  the  protec- 
tionists is  long  and  complicated.  .A  few  of  their  more  im- 
portant propositions  may  be  briefly  stated,  as  follows:  the 
United  States  as  a  nation  is  bound  to  secure  advantages  for 
its  own  citizens  before  regarding  other  countries;  protective 
duties  compel  foreigners  to  pay  part  of  our  taxes;  without 
protection  we  should  become  chiefly  an  agricultural  coun- 
try, and  such  countries  are  comparatively  poor  and  weak; 
diversified  industries  are  called  into  being  or  strengthened 
by  a  protective  tariff,  and  these  are  valuable  to  a  nation  in 
time  of  peace  and  necessary  in  time  of  war;  the  destruc- 
tions of  protection  would  mean  that  the  labor  of  this  country 
would  have  to  compete  with  the  cheaper  labor  (usually  called 
"pauper  labor")  abroad;  wages  would  fall,  and  the  Amer- 
ican laborer  would  be  reduced  to  the  low  level  of  life  com- 
mon to  laborers  abroad;  the  investment  of  capital  at  home 
is  encouraged  by  protection,  and  on  this  the  working  classes 
depend;  even  if  protection  were  a  C[uestionable  policy  to 
inaugurate,  now  that  it  is  established  in  this  country  it  should 
be  continued,  for  the  sake  of  justice  to  invested  capital  and 
to  prevent  the  financial  disasters  that  would  result  from  a 
revolution  in  our  industries.  To  the  arguments  of  the  free- 
traders they  reply  that  governments  have  very  generally 
found  it  necessary  or  advisable  to  regulate  to  some  extent 
the  trade  of  their  citizens  or  subjects;  that  protection  benefits 
the  whole  nation,  not  merely  a  part,  by  keeping  up  the  price 
of  labor;  that  no  free-trade  argument  can  be  drawn  from 
inter-state  commerce,  since  the  localizing  of  industries  can 
do  no  harm  when  all  the  localities  are  parts  of  a  single 
whole;  that  competition  between  home  industries  will  keep 
prices  down  to  a  fair  point.  Since  the  Civil  war  the  Repub- 
lican party  had  been  practically  a  unit  in  supporting  a  pro- 
tective tariff.  Before  that  period  members  of  both  parties 
were  found  on  each  side  of  the  line.  The  tariff  has  never 
been  the  main  issue  in  a  presidential  election,  though  in 
1880  and  1884  the  Republicans  strove  to  increase  its  impor- 
tance. 


THE  PRINCIPLES   OF   FREE   TRADE. 


A  Political  Gathering  Listening  to  Tariff  Speeches. 


The  Principles  of  Free  Trade. 

Free  trade  is  the  doctrine  of  political  economy  main- 
tained by  those  who  hold  that  trade  should  be  unrestricted 
by  governmental  regulations  or  interference.  The  term  is 
generally  used  with  reference  to  governmental  exactions  on 
importations.  Theoretically  free  traders  hold  that  our 
commerce  with  other  nations  should  be  as  unrestricted  as 
commerce  between  the  various  states  of  the  Union,  but 
practically  they  admit  that  duties  on  imports  are  a  conven- 
ient way  of  raising  a  revenue;  so  that  as  the  term  is  gener- 
ally used  in  this  country,  a  free  trader  is  one  who  believes 
in  so  regulating  the  tariff  as  to  raise  the  necessary  revenue 
with  the  least  restrictions  on  foreign  commerce  and  with 


THE   PRINCIPLES  OF   FREE  TRADE.  5Q9 

absolutely  no  attempt  to  protect  home  industries.  He  be- 
lieves strictly  in  a  tariff  for  revenue  only,  or  a  fiscal  tariff, 
as  it  is  sometimes  called.  A  brief  outline  of  some  of  the 
most  important  propositions  on  which  the  free  trade  argu- 
ment rests  may  be  given  as  follows:  Every  man  has  a 
natural  right  to  buy  in  the  cheapest  market  and  to  sell  in 
the  dearest;  all  attempts  to  check  this  right  on  the 
part  of  the  government  result,  sooner  or  later,  in  an 
artificial  commercial  condition  and  consequent  finan- 
cial disaster;  labor,  production,  manufacture  and  com- 
merce, being  governed  by  natural  laws,  will  regulate 
themselves  best  if  not  interfered  with;  a  nation  should 
devote  itself  to  industries  which  are  natural  to  it;  to 
attempt  to  force  others  to  growth  is  an  artificial  stimulus 
and  a  waste  of  energy;  if  other  nations  can  produce  articles 
cheaper  than  we  can,  it  is  an  unnecessary  national  extrava- 
gance to  waste,  in  making  them  at  home,  strength  that  could 
more  profitably  be  devoted  to  other  pursuits.  Protection 
benefits  only  a  minority  of  the  nation  at  the  expense  of  the 
large  majority.  The  advantages  which  have  resulted  from 
free  trade  between  the  several  states  of  the  Union  prove 
that  similar  advantages  would  follow  from  free  trade  with 
foreign  nations.  In  answer  to  some  of  the  arguments  of  the 
protectionists,  free  traders  say  that  it  is  ridiculous  and  un- 
true to  insist  that  protective  duties  compel  foreigners  to 
pay  part  of  our  taxes;  that  diversified  industries  are  proven 
by  history  not  to  be  necessary  for  a  nation,  since  with 
wealth  all  things  can  be  purchased  in  these  days,  and  the 
nation  will  gain  wealth  more  rapidly  if  it  devotes  itself  to 
natural  pursuits  and  avoids  wasting  its  energy  in  unnatural 
ones;  that  high  wages  in  the  United  States  are  due  to  oui 
natural  advantages,  not  to  protection;  that,  in  any  case, 
with  free  trade  the  workman's  necessaries  would  cost  much 
less  and  his  wages  would  go  as  far  as  before;  that  it  is  unjust 
to  tax  the  whole  country  to  pay  large  profits  on  invested 
capital  which  could  be  equally  well  employed  in  other  chan- 
nels. A  large  majority  of  the  Democratic  party  are  free 
traders  in  the  sense  in  which  the  term  is  used  here — of 
favoring  a  tariff  for  revenue  only,  but  a  minority,  powerful 
in  influence  if  not  in  numbers,  are  protectionists. 


510  HISTORY  OF   AMERICAN   TARIFFS. 

The   Complete   History  of  American 
Tariffs. 

1.  Two  Classifications.— Tariffs  are  divided  into  two 
classifications:  Revenue  Tariffs  and  Protective  Tariffs. 

Each  of  them  are  a  tax  on  the  manufacture  or  produc- 
tion from  the  soil  of  articles  of  consumption  or  use;  the 
former  being  for  the  benefit  of  the  state  and  the  latter  for 
the  benefit  of  the  manufacturer  to  a  limited  extent,  at  least 
incidentally. 

Previous  to  the  American  revolution  nearly  every  kind 
of  manufacturing  carried  on  in  the  colonies  was  subjected 
to  duties  paid  to  the  crown  for  such  privileges,  or,  if  ille- 
gally done,  to  fines  and  penalties. 

2.  Our  Tariff  Legislation   Slightly  Modified.— These 
conditions  were  only  introductory  to  the  subject.    Our  tariff 
legislation  began  in  1789,  at  the  time  when  we  were  exchang- 
ing our  form  of  government  from  the  slip-shod  form  of  a 
confederacy,  if  the  expression  is  admittable,  to  that  of  a 
centralized  power  to  subordinate  the  whole  on  all  issues 
that  affected  the  whole  by  the  adoption  of  a  constitution 
alike  binding  on  all;  then  it  was  that  a  tariff  act  was  passed 
by  Congress  bearing  date  of  July  4, 1789,  the  object  of  which 
was  stated  by  Congress  to  be  for  the  encouragement  and 
benefit  of  manufacturers,  although  it  was  barely  sufficient 
for  revenue  only. 

It  was  slightly  modified  August  10,  1790.  For  two  fiscal 
years,  ending  September  30,  its  percentage  on  all  importa- 
tions averaged  15.34.  May  2,  1792,  another  bill  was  passed 
which  reduced  this  rate  to  13.44  for  the  next  three  years 
Revenue  only  had  thus  far  been  the  result,  but  protection 
began  now  to  be  considered,  to  accomplish  this  the  next 
change  was  made  March  3, 1797,  which  increased  the  rates 
to  an  average  of  18.43  for  the  next  three  years.  May  13, 
1800,  another  tariff  bill  was  passed,  increasing  them  to  21.30 
for  the  next  four  years.  The  next  tariff  bill  was  passed 
March  26, 1804,  raising  the  rates  also  as  to  average  23.62  for 
the  next  eight  years. 

3.  Retributive  Measure. — This  brings  us  near  to  the  wai 
of  1812,  when  Congress  demanded  an  increase  in  the  rates 
of  the  tariff,  as  a  retributive  measure,  to  offset  English 
restrictions  on  the  laws  of  trade,  but  these  laws  were  not 
made  to  injure  America,  but  to  retaliate  on  Napoleon  for  his 
decrees  of  Berlin,  though  they  affected  America  as  much  as 
France,  and  caused  much  popular  indignation  against 
England. 


HISTORY    OF   AMERICAN   TARIFFS.  .  511 

4.  New  Tariff  Bill.— These,  added  to  the  resentful  feel- 
ings  against  England  for  the  impressment  of  American  sea- 
men into  the  British  service,  were  the  real  incentive  to 
increasing  the  tariff  rates  at  that  time    more    than  any 
economic  necessity,  and  so  strong  was  this  feeling  that  the 
extreme  Republicans  advocated  a  tariff  law  which  should 
claim  higher  duties  on  English  importations  than  upon 
those  from  other  countries,  but  this  radical  measure  was 
voted  down  by  the  Federalists  and  a  few  moderate  Repub- 
licans, and  the  new  tariff  bill  was  passed  without  any  partial 
discrimination.     It  bore  date  of  July  1, 1812,  seventeen  days 
before  the  war  was  declared.    It  raised  the  duties  for  the 
next  four  years  so  as  to  average  30.18  per  cent. 

5.  The  Effect  of  the  War.— The  rate  would  have  aver- 
aged higher  but  for  the  fact  that  the  effect  of  the  war  had 
been  to  change  the  importations  to  a  class  of  goods  on 
which  low  tariff  rates  had  been  laid.     Previous  to  this  date 
the  percentage  on  importations  has  been  given  on  both 
dutiable  and  free  goods  for  the  reason  that  the  government 
statistics  have  not  given  the  two  kinds  separately.     Prob 
?My  the  average  might  be  about  two  per  cent,  less  could  it 
have  been  made  on  dutiable  goods  only.    A  very  slight 
change  might  also  have  been  made,  from  the  fact  that  the 
terminations  of  fiscal  years,  for  which  calculations  had  beet, 
made,  did    not    always    correspond    with    dates   of    new 
tariffs,  but  this  could  not  change  the  gross  average  Vit  a 
fraction. 

6.  The  Beginning  of  the  Real  Tariff  Issue.— The  wai 
came  to  an  end  in  1814,  and  could  no  longer  be  brought  into 
requisition  to  affect  the  tariff,  and  at  this  time  began  an 
issue  that  has  ever  since  been  a  prolific  source  of  agitation 
on  jarring  interests  to  which  political  partisanship  has  been 
tenaciously  allied,  whether  from  patriotic  moJves  or  foT 
party  preferences,  may  be  considered  a  matter  of  opinion. 

During  the  Napoleonic  wars  the  manufacturing  interests 
of  America  had  assumed  unexpectedly  large  proportions, 
owing  to  the  restrictive  laws  of  Congress,  such  as  tht 
Embargo  Act  of  1807,  which  interdicted  all  trade  with  Eng- 
land, and  although  the  measure  caused  much  stringency  in 
business  as  well  as  agricultural  interests,  it  stimulated 
manufacturing  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  as  it  cut  off  all 
importation  during  the  nineteen  months  in  which  it  lasted 
before  it  was  repealed.  As  might  be  expected,  increased 
manufacturing  created  advocates  for  increased  duties 
for  protection  of  infant  industries,  a  term  then  muoh 
quoted. 


512  HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN    TARIFFS. 

7.  For  Revenue  Only.— At  this  particular  epoch  in 
American    finance,  the  south   had   not   formulated  their 
policy  but  Mr.  Calhoun,  whose  influence  was  potent,  soon 
took  the  matter  into  consideration  and  became  their  expo- 
nent   At  first  he  joined  hands  with  the  New  England  tariff 
men  and  favored  increased  duties  on  cotton  goods  under 
the    impression    that    it  would  raise  the  price  of  the  raw 
material,  cotton,  which  was  then  the  principal  staple  of  the 
south,  and  the  tariff  bill  of  April  27, 1816,  was  the  result. 
It  materially  raised  the  rates  on  cotton  goods  but  lowered 
them   on  others,  with  a  result,  that  in  the  next  eight  years 
the  ad  valorem  rates  on  all    importations  averaged  about 
the  same  as  those   of    the  four  years  previous.     Until  the 
tariff  of  1816,  revenue  only  had  been  tbe  object  and  protec- 
tion incidental  to  it,  but  this  had  transposed  these  condi- 
tions  and   fairly  committed   the  government  to  the  new 
policy. 

8.  Tariff  Bill  of  1824.— Henry  Clay  was  then  a  rising 
power  in  political  ciicles  and  chiefly  through  his  influence 
a  new  tariff  bill  passed  May  22,  1824,  increasing  duties  still 
more    than   the  last.    The  opposition  against  this  bill  was 
very  strong,  and  it  was  only  by  a  bare  majority  that  it  became 
a  law.    Under  it  the  average  rate  on  dutiable  goods  for  the 
next  four  years  was  50.84  per  cent.     May  19, 1828,  another 
bill  passed  whose  changes  produced  the  following  results: 
for  1828,  47.59  per  cent.;   for  1829,  5418  per  cent.;  for  1830, 
61.69  per  cent.,  each,  average  rate  on  all  dutiable  goods. 

9.  South  Carolina  Nullification, — This  tariff  reached 
the  limit  of  Southern  endurance,  and  Calhoun  now  became 
outspoken  as  an  anti-tariff  man,  and  the  South  Carolina 
nullification  grew  out  of  it,  by  which  President  Jackson 
gained  a  reputation  for  loyalty  to  the  Constitution  and  Cal- 
houn a  reputation  for  a  vindicator  of  the  right.     The  hostile 
teeling  that  grew  up  between  these  two  distinguished  Dem- 
ocrats on  this  issue  never  was  placated,  but  Henry  Clay, 
the  great  compromiser,  came  to  the  rescue  the  next  year, 
and  by  his  influence  secured  the  passage  of  a  bill  by  which 
the  tariff  should  be  graduated  down  to  an  averge  of  20  per 
cent,  on  all  dutiable  goods  after  1842. 

10.  The  Extreme  Limit  Never  Reached. — This  extreme 
limit  never  was  quite  reached,  owing  to  the  panicky  times 
that  resulted  from  the  hybrid  bank  legislation  of  1836  and 
1837,  by  which  neither  metallic  currency  nor  sound  paper 
currency  was  established.     But  the  "  American  System,"  as 
protection  was  called,  was  broken  up,  and  a  tariff  for  rev- 
enue only  was  substantially  the  law  until  1861.     From  1857 
.to  this  date  the  rates  on  dutiable  goods  had  averaged  but 
20.55  per  cent. 


HISTORY   OF   AMERICAN  TARIFFS.  513 


LUXURY. 

The  Right  Principles  of  Taxation.— Tax  the  Luxuries 
and  Admit  the  Necessaries  Free. 

11.  Tariff  Acts  of  1846  and   1857.— The  country  was 
satisfied  with  the  tariff  acts  of   this   period   and   this  mod- 
erate tariff  was  at  least  one  of  the  elements  that  contributed 
to  the  general  welfare. 

12.  The   Merrill   Bill.— In   1861  the   Morrill  Tariff  Act 
began  a  change   toward  a  higher  range   of   duties   and  a 
stronger  application   of  protection.     The  Civil  War  made 
additional  revenue  necessary.     The  exigency  of  the  times 
made  it  easy  to  carry  through   Congress   measures   for  in- 
creasing tariff     Protection   ran  riot.     Every  domestic  pro- 
ducer who  came  before  Congress  got  what  he  wanted  in 
the  way  of  duties. 

13.  After  the   War. — After  the   war   Congress   set   to 
work  at  repealing  and  modifying  the   internal   tax   system, 
but  failed  to  make  a  reduction  of  import  duties.     High  pro- 
tection seemed  to  carry  the  day  and  no  material  change 
was  made. 


514  MCKINLEY   TARIFF    AND  WILSON  LAW. 

14.  The  Financial  Situation. — The  connection  between 
tariff  legislation  and  the  state  of  the  revenue  is  very  dis- 
tinctly seen  in  our  history.  In  1847  an  empty  treasury  was 
followed  by  high  tariff  legislation.  In  1857  an  overflowing 
treasury  caused  a  reduction.  In  1864  money  was  needed 
and  there  was  an  increase  in  the  tariff.  In  1872  the  redun- 
dant revenue  brought  about  a  reduction.  The  financial  sit- 
uation has  largelv  controlled  the  tariff  rates  up  to  the 
present. 


The  Difference  Between  the  flcKinley 
Tariff  and  the  Wilson  Law. 

The  List  Congress,  elected  in  1888,  which  came  in  with 
the  Harrison  administration  March  4,  1889,  had,  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  173  Republicans,  156  Democrats 
and  1  Independent.  This  was  the  Congress  that  passed  the 
McKinley  bill.  It  was  elected  on  the  pledge  of  the  Repub- 
licans, in  their  press  and  on  the  stump,  that  they  would 
reform  the  tariff,  upon  the  claim  that  that  system  should  be 
corrected  by  its  friends  rather  than  by  its  enemies.  The 
McKinley  law,  the  highest  protective  tariff  measure  the 
country  ever  had,  was  the  way  the  Republicans  kept  theil 
promises  of  reform  to  the  people. 

The  LI  Id  Congress  was  elected  in  1890.  and  the  people 
showed  their  appreciation  of  the  way  the  Republicans  had 
kept  their  promises  regarding  tariff  reform  by  electing  a 
House  of  Representatives  that  stood  88  Republicans,  235 
Democrats  and  9  Alliance.  To  emphasize  the  popular  wish 
for  reform  of  the  tariff  Mr.  Cleveland  was  elected  President 
in  1892,  and  the  lower  house  of  Congress  elected  at  the  same 
time  stood  129  Republicans,  216  Democrats,  8  Alliance  or 
Populists,  with  two  vancancies.  There  has-been  since  1889 
no  abatement  in  the  popular  wish  for  an  improvement  in 
a  substantial  reduction  of  the  tariff,  and  the  demand  is 
as  strong  to-day  as  it  was  in  1889  for  a  radical  departure 
from  war  taxation  and  the  Morrill  law  of  1861.  While  this 
is  true  it  does  not  indicate  any  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
people  to  adopt  the  free-trade  notions  of  Great  Britain,  but 
it  is  a  protest  against  the  enormous  taxation  of  tne  many 
for  the  benefit  of  the  few. 

The  New  Tariff.— As  a  result  of  the  persistent  effort  of 
the  people,  the  Wilson  tariff  was  passed. 


MCKINLEY   TARIFF   AND   WILSON   LAW.  515 

Cleveland's  Second  Term,  1893-1897.— When  President 
Cleveland  again  came  into  office,  he  found  both  the  Senate 
and  the  House  in  harmony  with  his  views.  It  now  became 
the  duty  of  the  Democratic  administration  to  revise  the 
tariff  laws.  After  much  discussion,  Congress  passed  a  law 


THE  HON.  W.  L.  WILSON. 
Author  of  the  Wilson  Tariff  Law. 


known  as  the  Wilson  Bill.  This  law  did  not  meet  the  ex- 
pectations of  a  large  number  of  the  party,  but  it  was  the 
best  they  could  agree  upon.  This  law  incorporated  as  one 
of  its  provisions,  a  tax  on  all  incomes  above  $5,000.  The 
income  tax  is,  according  to  Adam  Smith,  the  most  just  of 
all  forms  of  taxation;  but  the  law  is  unpopular  in  the 
United  States.  For  ten  years  during  and  following  the 
civil  war,  we  had  an  income  tax ;  but  as  it  was  considered 
a  war-measure,  it  did  not  meet  with  serious  objection.  Is 


516  TARIFF   RATES  COMPARED. 

an  income  tax  a  direct  or  an  indirect  tax?  The  Constitu- 
tion says,  "Direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  states  .  .  .  according  to  their  respective  numbers," 
etc.  A  test  case  was  brought  before  the  U.  S.  Supreme 
Court,  which  decided  that  it  was  a  direct  tax,  hence  un- 
constitutional. As  a  result  of  this  decision,  the  Wilson  Bill 
did  not  produce  sufficient  revenues  to  meet  the  expenses  of 
the  government.  By  necessary  gold  purchases  and  by  the 
shortage  in  revenues,  the  public  debt,  during  Cleveland's 
administration,  was  largely  increased. 


Tariff  Rates  Compared. 

SCHEDULE.  COTTON.  FLAX.  WOOL.  SILK. 

Wilson  bill  per  cent,  ad  valorem  41  32  41  46 

McKinley  tariff 55  42  99  53 

Mills  bill 33  25  40  50 

Tariff  of  1883. . .  35  31  67  45 

The  sugar  bounty  was  abolished,  and  a  duty  of  40  per 
cent,  ad  valorem  imposed  upon  raw  sugar,  which  before  was 
free,  while  refined  sugar  pays  one-eighth  of  a  cent  a  pound 
and  40  per  cent,  against  one-half  a  cent  under  the  late 
tariff.  Wool,  raw  hides  and  many  other  articles  were  duty 
free. 

Reciprocity. — The  Wilson  Law  also  repealed  what  was 
known  as  the  "Reciprocity  Section"  of  the  McKinley 
Law,  which  had  been  intended  especially  to  gain  the  trade 
of  Central  and  South  America  for  the  United  States.  This 
section  provided  that  "whenever  and  so  often  as  the  Presi- 
dent shall  be  satisfied  that  the  government  of  any  country 
producing  and  exporting  sugar,  molasses,  coffee,  tea  and 
hides,  raw  or  uncured,  or  any  such  articles,  imposes  duties 
or  other  exactions  upon  the  agricultural  or  other  products 
of  the  -United  States,  which  in  view  of  the  free  introduc- 
tion of  such  sugar,  molasses,  coffee,  tea  and  hides  into  the 
United  States  he  may  deem  to  be  reciprocally  unequal  and 
unreasonable,  he  shall  have  the  power,  and  it  shall  be  his 
duty,  to  suspend  by  proclamation  to  that  effect,  the  provis- 
ions of  this  act  relating  to  the  free  introduction  of  such 
sugar,  molasses,  coffee,  tea  and  hides,  the  production  of 
such  country  for  such  time  as  he  shall  deem  just,  and  in 
such  case  and  during  such  suspension  duties  shall  be  levied^ 


TARIFF   RATES  COMPARED. 


51% 


collected  and  paid,  upon  sugar,  molasses,  coffee,  tea  and 
hides,  the  product  of,  or  exported  from  such  designated 
country  as  follows,"  etc. 

Under  This  Provision  of  the  McKinley  Law,  reci- 
procity treaties  had  been  negotiated  with  Spain,  Brazil, 
Honduras,  Salvador,  Guatemala,  Nicaragua,  San  Domingo,, 
Germany,  Austria-Hungary  and  Great  Britain  for  Jamaica, 
British  Guiana  and  her  other  West  Indian  colonies.  The 
favorable  effect  of  the  treaty  with  Spain  is  best  given  in 
the  language  of  the  British  consul-general  at  Havana, 
who  is  quoted  as  saying:  "British  trade  with  Cuba  has  also 
become  a  thing  of  the  past;  and  under  the  recent  reci- 
procity treaty  the  United  States  of  America  practically 
supplied  all  the  wants  of  the  island  and  receives  all  its 
produce.  The  effect  has  been  to  throw  nearly  the  entire 
Cuban  trade  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States  traders, 
with  whom  importers  of  goods  from  less  favored  nations 
cannot  compete,  having  to  pay  by  terms  of  such  treaty 
higher  import  duties." 

Under  the  Wilson  Law  Spain  at  once  abrogated  the 
treaty,  Brazil  soon  afterwards  gave  three  months'  notice  of 
abrogation,  and  all  the  treaties  based  on  reciprocity  have 
terminated.  The  effect  was  detrimental  to  the  commerce 
of  the  United  States. 


Tariff  Commission  League. 

Such  a  league  is  being  endorsed  by  boards  of  trade, 
chambers  of  commerce,  and  similar  commercial  organiza- 
tions all  over  the  country.  The  objects  of  this  league  are 
very  well  set  forth  in  the  following  statement,  signed  by 
every  one  on  becoming  a  member  of  the  organization: 

I  hereby  agree  to  unite  with  a  body  of  business  men  to 
organize  "  The  Tariff  Commission  League,"  the  object  of 
which  shall  be  to  promote  a  movement  in  favor  of  a  consti- 
tutional amendment  that  will  place  our  country  on  a  per- 
manent protective  tariff  basis,  take  the  question  of  "tariff" 
out  of  the  arena  of  politics,  and  place  it  in  the  hands  of  a 
permanent  commission  that  shall  be  composed  of  business 
men  who  shall  equally  represent  capital,  labor  and  the 
farmer. 

The  first  national  convention  of  this  organization  was 
held  in  Detroit,  June,  1896.  It  would  seem  that  the  object 
and  work  of  this  organization  should  commend  itself  to  all 
truly  American  citizeas. 


518 


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HISTORY  OF   THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS.  527 

A  Complete  History  of  the  Financial 
Panics  in  the  United  States. 

1.  Financial  Disturbances. — Financial  disturbances  in 
any  country  are  governed  by  the  simple  laws  of  cause  and 
effect,  and  are  by  no  means  peculiar  to  the  United  States. 
A  glance  at  the  history  of  England  or  France,  for  example, 
will  reveal  the  fact  that  these  disturbances,  sufficiently 
marked  to  be  called  panics,  have  occurred  at  somewhat 
regular  intervals   and,  as   in   this   country,  have  followed 
periods  of  speculation  and  of  abnormally  inflated  values. 
That  panics  have  been  more  common  in  our  own  country, 
however,  than  in  the  Old  World  is  true  and  not  at  all  strange, 
when  it  is  considered  that  we  are   comparatively  a  new 
country,  scarcely  more  than  a  hundred  years  old  since  a 
stable  government  was  formed,  and  subject  to  the  experi- 
ments and  diverse  schemes  of  a  republican  government  of 
the  people  by  the   people.     During  the  first  50  years  of 
-our  history  the   experimental   stage  was  of  course   more 
marked,  and   it  now  may  be   truthfully  said  that  we  as  a 
people  are  better  equipped  by  reason  of  our  abundant  and 
varied  resources  and  by  reason  of  commanding  ability  on 
the   part   of  our  financiers  than  almost  any  country  in  the 
world.     History  shows  that,  however  sound  the  monetary 
system   of  a   country  may  be  and   however  carefully  the 
government   may  provide  for  an  adequate  revenue  and  a 
stable  currency,  panics  as  a  matter  of  fact  recur  at  tolerably 
regular  periods.    In  this  country  these  financial  disturbances 
have  occurred  on  an  average  about  once  in  10  years,  vary- 
ing in  duration  from  one  to  three  years. 

2.  Over-Trading. — To  briefly  trace  the  history  of  these 
panics  from  the  beginning  of  our  national  life  to  the  pres- 
ent day  is  the  object  of  this  chapter.   By  way  of  preliminary 
observation  it  may  be  stated  in  general  terms  that  panics 
affecting  th-  entire  business  of  our  country  have  been  usu- 
ally due  to  one  of  two  causes,  viz.:  first,  over-trading,  call- 
ing for  an  excess  of  either  manufactured  or  imported  prod- 
ucts and  consequent  inflation  of  the  currency  used  in  this 
over-trading;  or,  second,  to  marked  changes  in  the  tariff 
regulations  tending  to  unsettle  manufacturing  and  with  it 
the  buying  and  selling  interests  of  the  community  for  such 
length  of  time  as  may  be  necessary  to  bring  about  an  ad- 
justment  of  business  to   the   changed    tariff    regulations. 
With  two  or  three  noted  exceptions,  the  last  of  which  had 
its  beginning   in   1893,   the  depressions    caused   by   tariff 
changes  have  not,  however,  been  so  marked  in  t'nis  country 


528  HISTORY  OF  THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS. 

as  from  the  first  cause  above  named.  For  instance,  from 
1814  to  1893  there  have  occurred  at  least  ten  distinct  panics 
at  more  or  less  regular  intervals  concurrent  in  the  United 
States,  in  England,  and  in  France,  all  of  which  were  due  to 
inflation  or  what  we  conveniently  call  "  booming  "  or  over- 
trading. 

3.  The  Panic  of  1814-15. — During  the  first  year  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  Congress  authorized  the  issue  of  "con- 
tinental currency"  or  paper  money  to  the  extent  of  $3,000,- 
000    for    the    p'urpose    of    carrying    on    the    war,    which 
amount  was  increased  in  three  years  to  $160,000,000  and  by 
1780  had  reached  the  large  amount  of  $359,000,000.    Depre- 
ciation in   the  face   value  of  the  currency  gradually   took 
place  until  in  1779  Congress  undertook  to  decree  that  it 
should  be  taken  at  its  face  value,  but  as  in  1780  government 
ceased  to  take  it  for  custom  dues  it  rapidly  went  down,  until 
in  1781  it  was  practically  worthless.     This  state  of  affairs 
led  Congress  during  the  latter  year  to  form  the  Bank  of 
North  America  on  a  plan  formulated  by    United    States 
Treasurer  Morris.     The  capital  was  fixed  at  $10,000,000. 
The  bank,  hampered  from  the  first  by  the  large  loans  re- 
quired by  the  government,  was  not  a  success,  and  having  an 
inadequate  capital  continued  to  increase  its  note  circula- 
tion during  the  succeeding  seven  or  eight  years  until  the 
people  finally  refused  to  take  its  issues  at  par  or  anywhere 
near  it.     Hard  money  was  in  general  demand,  causing  a 
hoarding  of  the  precious  metals  and  consequent  stagnation 
of  business  and  an  era  of  general  bankruptcy  followed.     In 
1790,  Alexander  Hamilton,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States,  came  forward  with  a  proposition  for  the 
founding  of  a  National  Bank  which  Congress  duly  author- 
ized, and  in  1794  it  commenced  business  as  the  "Bank   of 
the  United  States."     It  had  a  capital  of  $10,000,000,  one- 
fifth  of  which  was  subscribed  by  the  government  and  the 
other  three-fifths  by  private  individuals.     Two  of  the  latter 
$8,000,000  were  to  be  paid  in  metallic  money  and  $6,000,000  in 
6  per  cent,  state  bonds.     The  charter  was  to  expire  in  1811. 
It  was,   however,  afterward  extended.     For  several  years 
transactions  of  the  United  States  Bank  were  profitable,  for 
it  paid  an  average  of  8  per  cent,  on  its  capital. 

4.  State    Banks. — In   the    meantime,  soon  after    the 
establishment  of  the  national  bank,  in  1781,  state  banks, 
notably  in  Pennsylvania,  began  to  be  organized,  and  by  1811 
there  were  88  of  these  in  existence  with  an  aggregate  capi- 
tal of  $77,258,000.    Speculation  ran  high,  paper  money  was 
abundant  and  the  apparent  prosperity  of  the  country  was 
attributed  to  the  issue  of  paper  money  both  by  the  govern- 


HISTORY  OF   THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS.  529 

ment  and  the  state  banks.  Then  came  the  War  of  1812.  At 
its  beginning  the  exportation  of  the  precious  metals  nearly 
ceased,  the  banks  increased  their  issues  and  made  great 
profits  for  the  stockholders.  The  Farmer's  Bank  of  Lan- 
caster, Pa.,  yielded  a  round  12  per  cent,  on  its -stock,  and  a 
widespread  mania  prevailed  among  all  classes  to  invest  in 
bank  stocks  and  to  engage  in  visionary  financial  schemes 
generally.  In  1813,  41  banks  were  chartered  in  Pennsyl- 
vania with  a  capital  all  told  of  only  $17,000,000.  These 
banks  had  no  adequate  specie  basis,  and  yet  continued 
the  issue  of  notes  on  a  liberal  scale.  On  the  other  hand 
the  New  England  states,  with  more  prudence,  had  en- 
acted stringent  laws  governing  banking  and  the  redemption 
of  bank  notes  and  when  under  the  pressure  of  war  times 
and  a  surfeit  of  practically  irredeemable  currency  the 
banks  of  the  other  states  suspended  payment  in  the  early 
fall  of  1814  the  New  England  banks  remained  solid.  A 
temporary  arrangement  was  made  between  the  business 
public  and  the  banks,  especially  in  Philadelphia,  for  the 
restoration  of  confidence  based  on  the  agreement  of  the 
.latter  to  resume  payment  of  their  notes  at  the  close  of  the 
war  and  for  a  time  money  continued  plentiful,  times  were 
apparently  good,  inflation  of  values  extending  to  goods  and 
to  real  estate  was  the  rule  everywhere  and  speculation  was 
universal.  Everybody  could  borrow  money  and  few  looked 
forward  to  a  day  of  reckoning.  When  in  1815  the  reaction 
came,  people  found  that  while  the  value  of  hard  money  had 
increased  they  had  little  of  real  value,  as  judged  by  the 
metallic  standard,  left  to  show  for  their  great  apparent 
gains. 

5.  The  Large  Loans  to  the  Government. — The  large 
loans  to  the  government  by  the  banks  for  the  prosecution 
of  the  war,  amounting  to  nearly  $53,000  000,  helped  along 
the    inflation  of    currency,   the  banks   advancing    money 
beyond  their  resources,  thus  augmenting  their  circulation. 
When  the  crash  came,  the  United  States  Bank,  whose  man- 
agers had  taken  warning  in  time  and  reduced  its  discounts 
and  circulation,  was  found  to  be  in  fairly  sound  condition. 
By  the  middle  of  1815,  after  peace  had  been  declared,  ocean 
commerce  had  resumed  its  activity  and  general  business 
was  in  full  swing,  although  the  promise  of  the  state  banks 
to  resume  specie  payment  had  not  been  fulfilled. 

6.  Reorganize   the    United   States   Bank.  —  Early  in 
this  year  a  proposition  was  made  to  reorganize  the  United 
States  Bank,  and  in  April,  1816,  an  act  was  secured  for  the 
organization  of  a  company  with  a  capital  of  $35,000,000,  in 
shares  of  $100  each.    The  government  took  70,000  shares 


530  HISTORY  OF  THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS. 

and  the  general  public  the  other  180,000  shares.  The  latter 
were  payable  in  gold  or  silver  to  the  extent  of  $7,000,000 
and  $21,000,000  either  in  the  same  kind  of  money  or  in  the 
United  States'  consolidated  debt  bonds  at  par  or  in  other 
government  securities  at  values  varying  according  to  the 
interest  rate  which  they  bore.  Thirty  dollars  per  share  had 
to  be  paid  on  subscription,  of  which  $5  were  in  gold;  in 
six  months  $35  more  was  due,  of  which  $10  had  to  be 
in  specie,  and  the  remaining  $35  was  payable  in  12 
months  on  the  same  terms.  The  charter  was  to  run  until 
March,  1836.  Of  the  25  directors,  five  were  to  be  appointed 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  confirmed 
by  the  Senate,  and  the  rest  were  to  be -chosen  by  the 
stockholders  and  some  of  the  states,  no  state  being  allowed 
to  name  more  than  three  directors.  In  the  contraction  of 
any  debt  the  bank  was  limited  to  $35,000,000  in  excess  of  its 
total  deposits;  could  not  buy  and  sell  the  securities  of  other 
countries  not  capable  of  being  at  once  realized  upon;  was 
confined  to  6  per  cent,  interest  on  discounts  and  loans,  and 
was  restricted  to  $500,000  as  the  maximum  amount  to  be 
loaned  to  the  United  States,  $50,000  to  each  state,  and  loans 
to  foreigners  were  entirely  prohibited.  Bank  notes  not 
exceeding  $100  each  were  payable  on  demand,  while 
larger  denominations'were  allowed  sixty  days  for  payment. 
The  smallest  bank  note  was  for  $5.  Bills  of  exchange 
and  sight  drafts  were  receivable  at  the  United  States 
Treasury.  The  bank  was  to  receive  and  disburse  the  public 
moneys,  and  to  act  as  an  agent  for  any  state  in  the  negoti- 
ation of  a  loan.  Suspension  of  payment  of  bank  notes  or 
deposits  could  not  be  authorized  either  by  Congress  or  by 
the  directors.  As  a  bonus  for  the  charter,  the  bank  was  to 
give  the  government  $1,000,000,  in  three  installments. 
Upon  the  demand  of  the  state  Legislatures,  branches  were 
to  be  established  wherever  2,000  shares  of  the  stock  were 
taken. 

7.  The  Panic  of  1818. — It  soon  appeared  that  extensive 
speculation  in  the  shares  of  the  bank  was  going  on.  By 
September,  1817,  the  shares  sold  as  high  as  $156.50  and  so 
continued  until  December  of  the  following  yea-r  when  they 
fell  back  to  $110.  This  result  was  largely  brought  about  by 
the  knowledge  that  some  of  the  directors  were  freely  loan- 
ing $125  or  more  on  these  $100  shares  and  the  speculation 
mania  ran  high  and  precipitated  the  panic  of  1818. 

Over-issue,  or  at  least  imprudent  issue  of  bank  notes 
upon  a  limited  basis  of  specie  began  to  be  felt  even  before 
October,  1818,  when  the  payment  of  the  foreign  debt  of 
Louisiana  withdrew  a  large  sum  from  the  United  States  Bank. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS.  531 

Evidence  of  the  depreciation  of  the  currency  also  began  to  be 
seen  in  the  large  advance  in  the  price  of  foreign  goods,  espe- 
cially those  from  India  and  China.  As  invariably  happens, 
as  soon  as  these  indications  of  depreciation  in  the  circulating 
medium  were  observed,  a  general  demand  for  specie  pay- 
ment set  in.  The  bank  had  no  alternative  but  to  meet  the 
demand,  and  to  do  this  it  strained  every  nerve,  meanwhile 
reducing  its  circulation  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The  state 
banks  did  likewise,  necessarily,  and  the  result  of  the  general 
contraction  was  a  general  stagnation  of  business.  In  order 
to  pay  the  notes  or  the  bank  and  its  various  branches,  the 
national  bank  emptied  its  vaults  of  more  than  $7,000,000 
and  the  state  banks  of  more  than  $3,000,000  in  specie  in  a 
single  year. 

8.  Investigation  by  Congress. — The  management  of 
the  United  States  bank  was  finally  made  a  subject  of  inves- 
tigation by  Congress  and  a  committee  appointed  by  that 
body  in  the  latter  part  of  1818  reported  that  the  directors 
had  violated  several  of  the  provisions  of  the  charter.  The 
result  was  the  appointment  of  new  directors  and  a  change 
of  management.  The  panic  continued  through  1819,  and 
the  country  suffered  severely.  Real  estate  depreciated  to 
about  one-half  its  value,  failures  among  business  men  of 
nearly  all  classes  were  almost  universal  and  men  of  wealth 
speedily  became  poor,  while  the  middle  class  were  gener- 
ally impoverished.  Manufacturing  dwindled  and  the  labor- 
ing classes  were  either  idle  or  poorly  paid.  In  January, 
1820,  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  which  for  some  years 
had  fostered  a  loose  system  of  banking,adopted  a  conserva- 
tive course  and  decided  that  banks  should  be  restricted  in 
their  note  issues  to  one-half  their  capital,  that  no  director 
should  be  re-elected  until  after  a  three  years'  interval,  and 
that  their  books  should  be  annually  inspected  by  state  ex- 
aminers. Other  states  adopted  similar  regulations  and  the 
national  bank  now  being  under  a  new  management  and 
public  sentiment  in  a  condition  of  healthy  conservatism  on 
the  subject  of  banks  and  business,  an  improvement  soon 
took  place  and  the  country  gradually  resumed  its  former 
prosperity.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  during  the  general 
depression  through  1818-19,  the  government  securities  kept 
up  to  103  and  104. 

•".  9.  The  Panic  of  1825. — In  1825  another  financial  panic  set 
in.  The  prosperity  of  the  country  for  the  preceding  four  or 
five  years  encouraged  the  formation  of  numerous  banks,  and, 
forgetting  the  lessons  of  the  past,  new  banks  were  formed 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1824  the  Legislature  passed  a  bill 
re-establishing  the  charters  of  most  of  the  banks  which  had 


532  HISTORY  OF  THE  FINANCIAL  PANICS. 

failed  10  years  before;  while  in  New  York,  to  "start  a 
bank  "  was  a  kind  of  mania.  Various  stock  companies  of  a 
speculative  character  were  organized  and  stock  speculation 
became  rife.  By  1825  the  reaction  set  in,  helped  along 
materially  by  financial  embarrassments  in  England,  owing 
in  part  to  speculations  in  America,  cotton  and  mines  and 
the  ruling  of  money  exchange  in  London,  which  rose  from 
5  to  about  10  per  cent.  Cotton  fabrics  declined  from  18 
to  13  cents  per  yard,  and  many  of  the  factories  closed.  This 
panic,  however,  was  not  of  long  duration,  general  liquidation 
and  readjustment  of  values  occurring  during  1826,  and 
during  the  latter  part  of  that  and  in  the  following  year 
times  were  again  good,  and  money,  in  a  commercial  sense, 
easy. 

10.  United  States  Bank  Putting  in  Circulation  Large 
Amounts  of  Drafts.  —  Although  gradually  the  banks 
generally  had  become  established  on  a  better  basis  and 
hard  money  was  plenty,  yet  by  1828  there  began  to  de- 
velop a  condition  which,  under  other  circumstances,  would 
doubtless  have  led  to  a  serious  panic.  This  condition 
was  largely  caused  by  the  course  of  the  United  States 
Bank  in  putting  in  circulation  a  large  amount  of  drafts 
issued  by  the  branch  banks  which  circulated  freely,  taking 
the  place  of  the  bank  notes  put  out  by  the  local  banks, 
merely  displacing  this  circulating  medium  without  increas- 
ing the  general  circulation.  Naturally  the  issues  of  the 
local  banks  were  freely  exchanged  for  these  drafts  of 
the  national  bank,  or  rather  of  its  branches,  and  the 
former  having  a  comparatively  limited  circulation  suf- 
fered thereby.  This  disturbance  was,  however,  more  in  the 
nature  of  competition  between  the  local  banks  and  the  na- 
tional bank  than  otherwise,  and  while  causing  some  depres- 
sion to  business  from  scarcity  of  currency  did  not  rise  to 
the  proportions  of  a  panic.  Gold  and  silver  money  being 
comparatively  plenty  no  doubt  helped  to  prevent  more  seri- 
ous complications.  During  the  next  two  or  three  years 
business  was  very  active  and  the  country  prosperous.  Wars 
in  Europe,  the  cholera  and  other  causes  combined  to  make 
more  productive  the  use  of  capital  in  the  United  States  and 
the  line  of  bank  loans  and  discounts  rose  in  proportion  both 
among  the  state  banks  and  in  the  United  States  Bank,  the 
discounts  of  the  latter  rising  from  $24,000,000  in  1826  to 
$44,000,000  in  1831,  and  the  circulation  from  89,000,000  to 
$22,000,000.  The  New  York  banks  had  a  surfeit  of  money 
by  1830,  and  all  the  banks  extended  their  operations,  thus 
making  the  obtaining  of  credit  in  business  circles  compara- 
tively easy. 


HISTORY  OF   THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS.  533 

11.  A  Reaction. — By  1831,  however,  over-trading,   as 
usual,  produced  a  reaction  and  the  party  opposed  to   the 
United  States  Bank,  led  by   President  Andrew  Jackson, 
maintained  that  the  influence  and  operations  of  the  institu- 
tion were  calculated  to  embarrass  rather  than  to  promote 
the  interests  of  the  country  at  large. 

12.  The  Panic  of  1837. — Matters  pertaining  to  the  United 
States  Bank  continued  much  as  formerly,  the  contentions  of 
the  bank  and  the  anti-bank  party  going  on  until  1832,  when 
it  having  transpired  that  the  president  of  the  bank  had  sent 
an  agent  to  London  to  negotiate  a  loan  of  $6,000,000  from 
the  Barings  and  its  practical  insolvency  being  charged, 
President  Jackson  strongly  opposed  the  renewal   of    its 
charter,  which  was  to  expire  in  1836. 

13.  Congress  Antagonized  the   President.— Congress, 
however,  antagonized  the  President  and  voted  to  renew  the 
charter.    The  President,  with  characteristic  firmness  vetoed 
the  bill  passed  by  Congress.     In  the  following  year,  1833, 
President  Jackson  ordered  the  withdrawal  of  the  govern- 
ment deposits  from  the  bank,  which  after  considerable 
wrangling  in  Congress,  the  Senate  opposing  and  the  House 
sustaining  the  President,  was  accomplished.      In  1836  Deal- 
ings between  the  government  and  the  bank  entirely  ceased, 
its  president,  Mr.  Biddle,  having  about  this  time  mysteri- 
ously secured  the  special  charter  of  the  Bank  of  Pennsyl- 
vania.   The  directors  turned  over  everything  belonging  to 
the  old  bank  to  the  new  one,  and  although  owing  the  gov- 
ernment $16,000,000,  made  no  provision  for  its  payment. 
The  career  of  this  new  bank  with  the  old  name  and  the  old 
president  will  be  noted  later  on. 

14.  Monetary  System. — The  panic  of  1837-39  was  at 
first  strictly  one  affecting  the  monetary  system  of  the  country 
and  did  not  seem  to  check  the  general  prosperity,  while 
President  Van  Buren,  who  succeeded  General  Jackson  in 
1837,  like  his  predecessor,  favored  a  circulation  of  hard 
money  and  shaped  the  policy  of  his  administration  to  secure 
it  by  having  the  United  States  Treasury  refuse  at  first  all 
bank  notes  of  less  than  $5,  later  on  all  less  than  $10,  and 
still  later  all  under  $20.     All    these   exertions,  however, 
failed  to  stave  off  the  impending  crisis  resulting  from  ex- 
cessive over-trading,  wild  speculation,  and  above  all  the 
drain  upon  the  country  by  Europe  of  hard  money,  the 
"balance  of  trade"  being  heavily  against  the  United  States. 
In  1836  the  imports  of  this  country  exceeded  the  exports  by 
the  large  sum  of  $50,000,000.    Besides  this,  individual  firms 
and  houses  engaged  in  speculative  schemes  were  heavy 
borrowers  from  Holland  and  England.    When  the  financial 


534  HISTORY   OF   THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS. 

tension  had  become  great,  the  Bank  of  England^  sharply 
advanced  the  rate  of  discount  on  American  paper,  and  gen- 
eral collapse  followed.  Many  of  the  banks  suspended  pay- 
ment, and  though  Mr.  Biddle,  of  the  new  United  States 
Bank  schemed  to  stay  the  tide,  his  bank,  too,  suspended, 
and  for  a  year  general  financial  demoralization  marked  the 
panic  of  1837.  - 

15.  The  Panic  of  1839. — The  main  cause  which  led  up 
to  the  panic  ol  1839  may  be  traced  to  Mr.  Biddle  and  his 
wild  financial  schemes.    After  the  resumption  of  business 
by  his  "United  States  Bank  "  he  planned  to  control  all  the 
immense  cotton  sales  of  the  south.    He  succeeded  in  becom- 
ing the  great  cotton  factor,  with  agencies  at  Havre  and 
Liverpool,  to  whom  the  bulk  of  this  staple  was  to  be  con- 
signed.   Having  thus  a  monopoly,  by  shrewd  manipulation 
the  price  was  advanced,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
planters.    But  Biddle  paid  them  in  bank  paper,  while  he 
drew  on  his  foreign  correspondents  for  gold,  at  one  time 
drawing  3,000,000  pounds  sterling  on  London.    In  the  latter 
part  of  1837  he  caused  to  be  established  banks  in  several  of 
the  southern  states,  by  the  aid  of  which  advances  were  made 
to  the  planters.    They  were  flimsy  affairs,  with  small  capi- 
tal, and  in  the  following  year  their  note  issues  depreciated  80 
per  cent,  and  soon  were  refused  by  the  cotton  producers. 
But  Biddle  was  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  at  once  pro- 
ceeded to  buy  up  the  shares  of  the  banks  at  a  large  discount. 
He  also  purchased  their  papers  having  two  years  to  run, 
and  in  1838  had  put  into  the  business  on  the  strength  of  his 
United  States  Bank  $100,000,000,  while  he  loaned  the  plant- 
ers about  $20,000,000  on  their  cotton  crops  for  three  years  at 
7  per  cent.    The  southern  bank  shares  which  his  bank  had 
purchased  soon  rose  to  par,  as  he  had  intended,  and  then  he 
sold  them  in  the  London  market.    The  good  crops  in  the 
United  States  and  apparent  general  prosperity,  together 
with  the  fact  that  Biddle  kept  a  large  balance  in  Europe, 
inspired  general  confidence  in  London,  the  Bank  of  England 
taking  the  paper  of  the  United  States  Bank  at  2  to  3  per 
cent,  discount.     Meanwhile  the    bank's    stock  of    cotton 
controlled  by  Biddle  increased  until  it  reached  as  high  as 
90,000,000  bales.    The  speculation  had  yielded  a  profit  of 
$15,000,000,  but  soon  confidence  in  the  brilliant  financiering 
of  the  president  of  the  United  States  Bank  began  to  wane  in 
this  country,  for  the  paper  money  which  the  planters  had 
received  for  their  cotton  began  to  depreciate  from  15  to  25 
per  cent.,  while  the  crop  of  cotton  fell  off  about  one-fifth. 

16.  Biddle.— In  February  and  March,  1839,  the  sales  of 
cotton  at  Havre  and  Liverpool  were  made  at  a  loss  and  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FINANCIAL  PANICS.  535 

agents  there  began  to  store  the  large  cargoes  still  being  sent 
over.  Seeing  that  this  condition  of  affairs  abroad  was  likely 
to  react  unfavorably  at  home,  Biddle  for  a  time  threw  dust 
into  the  financial  air  by  starting  a  bank  in  New  York  with 
$50,000,000  of  capital.  He  issued  long-time  papers  and 
bought  extensively  with  this  paper  American  canal,  railroad 
and  other  stocks,  which  he  sold  for  a  time  in  the  London 
market.  Before  long,  however,  the  bank's  long-time  paper 
fell  to  about  80  per  cent,  and  American  exchange  and 
investments  were  practically  ruled  out  in  London  and  Paris. 
The  cotton  market  was  in  a  bad  way,  and  the  houses  in 
Paris  and  at  Amsterdam  which  had  handled  the  staple  for 
Biddle  withdrew  their  connection.  He  was,  however,  still 
able  to  get  money  in  London,  and  on  the  security  of  govern- 
ment bonds  and  canal  and  railroad  shares  secured  help 
from  the  Rothschilds  and  to  some  extent  from  the  Bank  of 
England.- 

17.  General    Depreciation.  —  Nothing   could   stay   the 
'ncoming  tide  of   general   depreciation  of   all  American 
securities,  and  the  loss  on  these  securities  and  the  fall 
of  cotton  caused  a  large  number  of  failures  in  London, 
Manchester  and  Birmingham.     In  the  United  States  busi- 
ness circles  had  suffered  from  over-trading,  and  the  general 
loss  of  confidence  made  actual  money  "tight,"  affecting 
even  government  finances.     Bank  failures  were  numerous, 
the  failures  being  959.    The  old  "Bank  party"  united  to 
force  the  government  to  turn  to  the  United  States  Bank 
for  help.    The  government  issued  instead  $10,000,000  of 
treasury  bonds.     Biddle  made  a  show,  of  resuming  specie 
payment,  but  could  not  restore  genuine  confidence,  while 
the  national  administration,  under  President  Van  Buren, 
ordered  that  collectors  of  government  dues  refuse  all  bank 
notes  of  less  than  $20  not  payable  in  specie.    At  last  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania  ordered  the  resumption  of  specie  pay- 
ment by  all  banks  chartered  by  that  state  on  or  before  Janu- 
ary 15, 1841.    The  shares  of  Biddle's  bank  had  yielded  no 
dividends  in  1839,  and  during  the  first  six  months  of  1840 
fell  to  $61,  although  at  one  time  they  had  been  quoted  as 
high  as  $1,500.    After  general  loss  to  banks  and  other  inter- 
ests of  fully  50  per  cent.,  the   panic   ceased    in  1841,  and 
business  moved  forward  again  on  a  more  solid  basis.    The 
famous  "  United  States  Bank  "  had  been  forever  swept  away 
in  the  storm. 

18.  A  Slight  Panic.— During  the    succeeding    seven 
years  the  financial  condition  of  the  country  showed  much 
improvement.    The  banks  were  conducted  on  a  more  solid 
basis,  and  by  1844  the  circulation  was  reduced  to  $58,000,000 


536  HISTORY  OF  THE  FINANCIAL  PANICS. 

from  $254,000,000  in  the  previous  year,  while  the  specie 
reserve  had  increased  from  $37,000,000  to  $49,000,000  during 
1844.  The  capital  of  the  banks  as  well  as  their  number  was 
materially  decreased,  the  former  being  reduced  from  a  total 
of  $350,000,000  in  1840  to  $196,000,000  in  1846.  Gradually, 
however,  banks  began  again  to  increase  in  number,  and 
note  circulation  by  1848  had  reached  $128,000,000  from 
$58,000,000  in  1844,  while  during  the  same  time  the  specie 
reserve  was  reduced  by  about  $14,000,000.  In  1848  a  slight 
panic,  partly  produced  by  the  panic  in  Europe,  but  mainly 
by  currency  inflation  with  its  usual  reaction  occurred,  but 
its  influence  was  not  serious  nor  its  duration  long  extended. 

19.  The  Panic  of  1857.— From  1849  to  1857,  in  which 
year  a  serious  panic  in  the  financial  history  of  this  country 
occurred,  general  business  was  good  and  the  increase  of 
discounts  by  the  banks  was  steady  and  the  deposits  showed 
a  gradual  gain.  The  discounts  grew  from  $332,000,000  in 
1849  to  $684,000,000  in  1857,  and  the  increase  of  the  bank 
circulation  was  $100,000,000.  The  number  of  banks 
increased  from  751  in  1848  to  1,416  in  1857,  but  while  the  751 
banks  in  1848  had  $207,000,000  of  capital,  the  1,416  banks  in 
1857  had  only  $370,000,000,  and  although  the  specie  reserve 
increased  considerably,  it  did  not  increase  in  proportion  to 
the  discounts  and  circulation.  For  example,  in  1837  the 
specie  on  hand  of  the  banks  was  $1  to  each  $6  of  paper 
money,  but  in  1857  the  specie  on  hand,  amounting  to 
$14,300,000,  was  in  the  proportion  of  $1  to  $8  of  paper.  By 
the  payment  of  high  interest  on  deposits,  the  banks 
increased  this  item  materially  by  the  early  part  of  1857. 
The  money  so  acquired  was  loaned  freely  to  speculators,  of 
whom  there  was  an  abundant  crop,  and  up  to  June,  1857, 
when  deposits  began  to  diminish,  loans,  discounts  and 
deposits  indicated  prosperity.  Railway  schemes  were 
numerous  and  the  shares  on  the  market  plenty,  while  specu- 
lation in  lands  on  borrowed  money  by  people  having  no 
solid  backing  had  become  extensive.  As  usual,  large 
amounts  of  railroad  shares  .were  floated  in  the  London  mar- 
ket. 

,20.  Signs  of  Trouble. — By  September,  1857,  there  be- 
gan to  be  signs  of  trouble,  three  or  four  small  banks  having 
suspended,  and  by  the  1st  of  October  the  demands  of  the 
country  banks  upon  the  metropolitan  American  Exchange 
Bank  of  New  York  were  greater  than  ever  before.  On  the 
13th  of  October,  with  a  premium  of  one-fourth  to  one-half 
per  cent,  on  specie  the  banks  very  generally  suspended 
specie  payment.  Necessarily  the  wheels  of  commerce 
stopped,  everybody  following  the  example  of  the  banks 


HISTORY  OF   THE   FINANCIAL   PANICS.  537 

suspended  payment,  and  for  about  a  month  the  finances  and 
business  of  the  country  were  in  a  very  critical  condition,  but 
the  resources  of  the  banks  and  the  exceptionally  good  crops 
of  the  year  soon  served  to  restore  a  degree  of  confidence, 
and  upon  December  11,  the  banks  resumed  payment. 

The  shrinkage  of  collaterals  deposited  by  the  banks  may 
be  seen  when  it  is  stated  that  these  collaterals,  in  1856, 
represented  $2,500,000,  on  which  notes  from  borrowers  were 
accepted  of  $2,000,000,  while  the  same  collaterals  in  1857 
were  valued  at  $560,000,  on  which  only  $383,000  was  loaned 
on  notes.  General  revival  of  business  followed  the  resump- 
tion of  the  banks,  and  by  January,  1858,  recovery  from  the 
panic  was  complete.  About  the  same  flurry  occurred  at 
the  same  time  in  Europe,  followed  by  a  like  speedy  recov- 
ery. ^  Briefly  over-issue  of  bank  notes,  too  indiscriminate 
loaning  by  the  banks  to  speculators,  and  the  extension  of 
business  in  the  country  upon  excessive  credits  were  the 
causes  of  the  panic  of  1857.  More  stringent  regulations  by 
some  of  the  states,  especially  New  York,  governing  the 
capital  and  management  of  the  banks  were  one  of  the  good 
results  of  the  panic. 

2i.  The  Panic  of  1873. — The  most  extensive  and  far- 
reaching  in  its  results  of  any  panic  occurring  in  the  history 
of  the  United  States  was  the  panic  of  1873.  The  causes 
were  many,  but  the  readjustment  of  inflated  values  con- 
sequent upon  the  conditions  brought  about  by  the  war  of 
the  Rebellion  may  be  set  down  as  the  chief  cause  back  of 
more  immediate  causes.  During  the  war  the  whole  mone- 
tary system  of  the  country  had  undergone  a  change;  gov- 
ernment bonds  to  a  large  amount  had  been  issued,  the  green- 
back national  currency  established  and  money  was  plenty. 
When  measured  by  a  gold  standard  the  money  was  quite  as 
"cheap"  as  it  was  plenty.  The  immense  expenditures 
called  for  in  the  conduct  of  the  war  stimulated  all  lines  of 
business  and  speculation  ran  high.  Land  values  especially 
in  the  west,  where  towns  sprang  up  as  if  by  magic,  rapidly 
increased  and  great  fortunes  were  realized  by  a  good  many 
of  the  investors.  Manufacturers  of  all  kinds  were  stimu- 
lated to  undue  proportions  in  many  cases  and  great  strides 
had  been  made  up  to  1872  in  the  apparent  prosperity  of  the 
country.  During  the  last  two  months  of  the  latter  year  the 
signs  of  the  coming  storm  appeared  when  the  rate  of 
discount  went  up  to  7  per  cent,  and  then  nearly  double 
that  figure  in  some  cases.  Accommodation  paper  began 
to  be  hard  to  discount  at  the  banks,  though  temporary 
improvement  followed  for  fitful  periods  during  the  spring 
and  summer  of  1873.  Railroad  building  went  on  at  a 


HISTORY  OF   THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS.  539 

rapid  rate  and  on  an  extensive  scale,  involving  an  ex- 
penditure of  about  $121,000,000  and  represented  by  about 
4,200  miles  of  road  during  1873.  On  October  18  the 
storm  broke,  when  the  great  banking  house  of  Jay 
Cooke  &  Co.  went  down.  Not  only  this  house  but  most 
other  banking  houses  had  loaded  up  with  railroad  and  sim- 
ilar securities  and  the  load  was  too  heavy  to  carry.  The 
price  of  gold,  which  in  January,  1873,  stood  at  112)4  per 
cent,  went  up  to  119^  in  April.  Bank  discounts,  which 
amounted  to  $300,000,000  in  September,  1871,  were  reduced 
to  $278,000,000  by  September,  1873,  and  deposits  which  in 
July,  1871,  were  $248,000,000  stood  at  $198,000,000  in  Septem- 
ber, 1873.  During  this  month  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange 
was  closed  for  10  days,  during  which  time  the  "legal  ten- 
der" notes  were  at  a  premium  of  from  one-fourth  to  3  per 
cent. 

22.  Withdrawal  of  Deposits. — The  withdrawal  of  de- 
posits everywhere  caused  a  "  run  "  on  the  banks,  and  the 
government  stepped   in   to   ease  the   situation  by  buying 
$13,500,000  of  its  5-20  bonds,  which  afforded  only  temporary 
relief.     Following  the  Jay  Cooke  failure  came  the  closing 
up  of  Fiske  &  Hatch,  the  Union  Trust  Company,  the  Na- 
tional Trust  Company,  the  National  Bank  of  the  Common- 
wealth and  other  large  institutions.     By  the  1st  of  Novem- 
ber discounts  which   on  the   12th  of  September  had  been 
$199,000,000  fell  to  $169,000,000,  and  stagnation  of  business 
was  general.    During  the  depression  the  national  govern- 
ment put  on  the  market  a  new  issue  of  5-20  bonds,  most  of 
which  were  taken  by  Germany,  and  this  helped  to  relieve 
the  strain.     Throughout  all  the  trouble  government  bonds 
not  only  held  up  but  advanced  from  91  per  cent,  in  April, 
1873,  to  96  in  October,  when  the  panic  was  at  its  worst, 
showing  the  general  faith  in  the  stability  and  resources  of 
the  nation.     State  bonds  also,  as  a  rule,  maintained  their 
integrity  and  were  freely  taken  whenever  offered  abroad. 
Railroad  securities,  excepting  those  of  the  old  established 
lines,  were  much  depressed  and  with  good  cause,  for  about 
90  companies  failed  to  pay  their  interest  coupons  when  due. 

23.  Wholesale  Manipulation  of  Stock. — Doubtless  the 
situation  as  regarded  the  railroads  was  made  much  worse 
than  it  would  naturally  have  been  by  the  wholesale  manip- 
ulation of  stocks,  by  combinations,  notably  that  of  the  Van- 
derbilts,  whose  managers  drove  shares  of  some  good  roads 
down  to  a  low  point  so  that  they  might  buy  them  up  at  their 
own  figure.    The  stable  character  of  the  finances  of  the 
national  government  and  the  era  of  retrenchment  which 
soon  set  in  on  the  part  of.  the  people,  who  had  over-traded 


540  HISTORY  OF  THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS. 

extensively,  soon  brought  about  a  better  state  of  affairs  and 
gradually  business  again  became  active,  based  more  nearly 
on  real  values  in  place  of  the  former  fictitious  ones. 

24.  The  Panic  of  1884.— Following  the  panic  of  1873 
the  financial  condition  remained  in  a  satisfactory  condition 
until  May,  1884,    when  a  financial   disturbance  occurred, 
having  its  center  in  New  York,  but  more  or  less  affecting 
the  entire  country.     It  was,  in  the  main,  a  panic  of  which 
the  stock  speculators  of   Wall    street    were    responsible 
rather  than  because  of  any  real  weakness  of  the  banks  or  of 
over-trading  in  business  circles  or  of  overproduction  by  the 
manufacturers.  The  era  of  railroad  speculations  had  reached 
its  culmination  in  this  country  in  1880,  and  the  excessive 
competition  in  rates  among  new  lines  by  1881  had  caused  a 
retrograde  movement  to  set  in.     Some  of  the  large  concerns 
in  New  York  which  had  been  reckless  operators  in  railroad 
securities  and  had  forced    prices  far  above   real   values, 
found  they  could  no  longer  perform  the  impossible  feat  of 
making  water  to  run  up  hill  and,  in  the  language  of  the 
street,  laid  down.     In  May,  1884,  the  stockbroker  firm  of 
Grant  &  Ward,  of  which  General  Grant  had  unfortunately 
become  a  nominal    member,  failed  through   the  crooked 
speculations  of   Ward,  and  for  which  General  Grant  after- 
ward made  all  the  reparation  in  his  power.     The  firm  was 
closely  connected  with  the  National  Marine  Bank,  which  on 
the  5th  of  May  failed.    Then  followed  closely  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  Second  National,  the  Metropolitan  and  a  number 
of  smaller  banks  which  were  intimately  connected  with 
these  institutions.    Before  the  close  of  the  month  the  sav- 
ings bank  of  Fiske   &   Hatch  and  several  banking  and 
brokerage  firms  failed. 

25.  Credits. — The    panic    among    the  banks  so  inti- 
mately associated  became  extensive,  and  getting  credits 
even  for  legitimate   transactions  was  next  to  impossible. 
Securities    heretofore  readily  received  as  collateral  were 
refused,   and  even    on  the  offering    of  those  of  unques- 
tioned value  no  money  could  be  had.    In  this  emergency 
the   Clearing   House   of  the  Associated   Banks  promptly 
arranged  to  issue  certificates   receivable  in  behalf  of  the 
crippled  members  of  the  association  and  supplemented 
this  action  by  receiving   through  a   committee  bills  and 
securities  as  collateral  in  exchange  for  which  certificates 
of  deposit  bearing  3  per  cent,  were  issued  up  to  75  per  cent, 
of  the  deposit.    This  action  not    only    prevented    many 
failures  but  soon  restored    confidence    and    enabled    the 
Metropolitan    and    other    banks    to  resume   without   loss 
to   depositors.      In  the  mean  time   the  Secretary  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS.  541 

Treasury  aided  the  recovery  by  pledging  the  government 
to  pay  before  maturity  a  large  amount  of  bonds  due  in 
the  near  future. 

26.  Specie  Payment. — The  government  paid  in  gold, 
and  the  affected  banks  also  managed  to  keep  up  their  specie 
payment.    Several  banks,  not  over  strong  and  many  private 
banking  firms  failed  beyond  recovery,  but  these  did  not 
materially  affect  the  general  public.    By  the  middle  of 
June  the  immediate  effect  of  the  disturbance  had  ceased, 
though,  like  a  receding  wave,  some  small  banking  institu- 
tions remote  from  New  York    and  Chicago  were  affected, 
and  the  panic  of  1884  was  a  thing  of  the  past.    The  number 
of  banks  in  1884  was  2,664. 

27.  The  Panic  of  1893-94.— We  come  now  to  the  last 
financial  disturbance  which  assumed  the  proportions  of  a 
real    panic,    and    had    its  noticeable  beginning  in    1893, 
and  the  effect  of  which  was  felt  for  many  years.    Good 
crops  and  fair  prices,  coupled  with  our  system  of  national 
banks,  enabled  the  country  to  realize  continued  prosperity 
after  1884,  and  the  development  of  mining  interests  and 
agricultural  resources  in  the  West  went  on  steadily,  while 
manufacturing  in  all  parts  of  the  country  increased,  notably 
so  in  the  reconstructed  South,  adding  to  the  permanent  re- 
sources of  a  great  nation.    In  1888    the    specie  reserve 
amounted  to  $181, 000,000,  the  banking  capital  to  $592,000,000, 
the  discounts  to  $1,684,000,000,  and  the  exports  to  $1,350,- 
000,000.    By  the  following  year  the  volume  fcf  trade  was 
larger  than  in  any  year  of  the  nation's  history  and  the  bank 
clearings  showed  an  increase  of  13  per  cent,  over  1888. 
The  crops  were  abundant  and  railroad  earnings  were  larger 
than  for  any  previous  period.    Very  naturally,  the  condi- 
tions were  favorable  to  the  unfolding  of  large  enterprises, 
some  of  which  were  overdone,  and  in  1892  signs  of  a  reaction 
were  noted.    In  1893,  following  a  change  of  administration 
from  the  Republican  to  the  Democratic  party,  which  had 
become  pledged  in  its  v^atform  to  a  free  trade  policy,  the 
uneasiness  consequent  upon  any  radical  change  in  the  tariff 
of  the  country  began  to  manifest  itself  and  manufacturers 
contracted  their  operations  extensively,  while  they  main- 
tained a  waiting  attitude  in  anticipation  of  a  radically 
changed  tariff.    Over-production  in  many  lines  also  made 
it  necessary  for  the  manufacturers  to  reduce  their  output 
and  a  decrease  of  wages  was  the  result.    This  contraction 
in  turn  affected  all  branches  of  trade  and  times  during  the 
summer  and  fall  of  1893  were  dull.    Some  bank  failures 
took  place,  but  only  among  small  country  banks. 

35 


542  HISTORY  OF  THE   FINANCIAL  PANICS. 

28.  A  New  Tariff  Bill.— As  was  expected  the  party  in 
power,  controlling  both  branches  of  Congress,  proposed  a 
new  tariff  bill,  and  during  the  long  session  of  1894  most  of 
the  time  of  Congress  was  taken    up  with  its  consideration. 
The  uncertainty  of  its  passage  and  the  form  which  the  pro- 
posed law  would  take  if  passed  kept  the  country  in  a  state 
of  uncertainty  all  through  the  summer  and  fall.    A  large 
number  of  business  failures  occurred  and  many  banks  of 
the  smaller  variety  closed  up  either  temporarily  or  perma- 
nently, though  the  banks  at  such  centers  as  New  York, 
Philadelphia,    Boston,  Chicago,  and  St.   Louis  remained 
solid.    In  fact,  rarely  have  the  banks  been  in  better  condi- 
tion than  since  the  beginning  of  the  recent  trouble.     There 
was  no  lack  of  money  in  1894-5,  but  for  a  time  it  was  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  negotiate  loans  from  the  banks  on  any 
class  of  securities.    A  general  policy  of  hoarding  money 
among  the  people  prevailed,  and  all  who  could  put  their 
surplus  into  first-class  securities  and  stored  them  away  in 
safety  deposit  vaults  and  elsewhere. 

29.  A  General   Distrust. — A  general  distrust  of  the 
future  prevailed  and  consequently  traders  did  business  on 
a  narrow  margin,  buying  small  stocks  at  short  intervals, 
thus  adding  to  the  uncertainties  of  the  manufacturing  inter- 
ests.   To  make  matters  worse  wheat,  under  the  influence 
of  a  large  supply  and  a  limited  foreign  dem.and,  declined 
from  time  to  time,  varying  for  months  from  53  to  64  cents, 
other  products  following  in  a  less  marked  decline.    To  add 
further  to  the  complications  the  great  railway  strike  of  July 
and  August,  1894,  initiated  by  the  American  Railway  Union 
under  the  leadership  of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  with  its  storm 
center  in  Chicago,  took  place  and  kept  the  country  in  a 
demoralized  state,  while  extensive  coal  strikes  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, Ohio  and  Illinois  added  to  the  troubles.    At  last,  just 
before  adjournment  in  October,  1894,  Congress  passed  a  new 
tariff  bill  so  long  pending,  though  with  much  less  sweeping 
reductions  than  were  anticipated,  and  a  settled  policy  on  that 
question  having  been  adopted,  the  country  experienced  the 
relief  which  certainty  brings.    The  finances  of  the  govern- 
ment, however,  owing  to  inadequate  revenues  and  the  con- 
stant drain  of  gold  from  the  United  States  Treasury,  most  of 
which  found  its  way  to  Europe,  operated  unfavorably  to 
rapid  recovery  from  financial  depression.     In  December 
government    issued    $100,000,000    of    3    per    cent,  bonds 
which  were  taken  by  a  syndicate  of  New  York  bankers  and 
afforded  temporary  relief. 


MONEY.  8 

Money. — First  Issue  in  America. 

1.  Codfish. — The  first  American  money  that  history 
informs  us  of  was  wampum  and  the  dried  codfish  of  New- 
foundland.   The  latter  were  in  general  use  as  money,  and 
answered  the  purpose  better  than  any  other  material  that 
could  have  been  procured  in  that  region.    A  single  fish  was 
a  sufficiently  small  change  for  small  transactions,  and  a 
mass  of  them  not  cumbersome,    Superior  convenience  made 
its  adoption  for  money  natural. 

2.  Wampum. — This  consisted  of  small  shells  like  beads. 
They  were  of  two  kinds,  white  and  black.    The  white  was 
the  periwinkle;  the  black  was  made  with  more  labor  out  of 
the  black  part  of  a  clam  shell  and  was  double  the  value  of 
the  white.    Strings,  groups  of  strings  and  belts  made  of 
them  were  the  money  known  as  wampum.    Wampum  was 
made  a  legal  tender  in  the  Massachusetts  colony  for  12d. 
only.     A  belt  of  it  was  six  feet  long  and  consisted  of  360 
beads.    The  whites  afterward  caused  an  inflation  by  import- 
ing the  beads  by  the  barrel. 

3.  Corn. — In  1641  corn  was  made  a  legal  tender  in  the 
Plymouth  colony  for  the  payment  of  debts,  "  to  save  the 
debtor  from  the  inequality  of  forcing  him  to  great  sacrifices 
in  consequence  of  the  scarcity  of  the  money  of  the  realm." 

4.  Spanish  Coins. — Gold  and  silver  Spanish  coins  were 
used  for  a  time,  but  in  1652  a  mint  was  set  up  in  Boston  to 
make  a  set  of  coins  for  home  circulation,  and  laws  were 
made  to  drive  out  the  Spanish  coins. 


New  England  Shilling.  New  England  Shilling. 

Issued  by  Massachusetts  in  1652. 


in 

;'i.6jva 

\XII 


SOME  OF  THE  FIRST  COINS  MADE  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 


544 


THE   FIRST   MONEY   ISSUED   IN   AMERICA. 


545 


5.  Current  Money  of  Paper. — King  George  III.  author- 
ized the  General  Assembly  of  Delaware  to  create  and  pro- 
vide paper  money  for  debt-paying  purposes.    Of  this  current 
money  of   King  George,  a  sum  equal  to  $150,000  of  our 
American  dollars  were  issued,  each  piece  of  paper  being 
first  printed  from  an  engraved  block  of  wood  and  thus 
numbered  and  signed  personally  by  each  of  the  three  com- 
missioners appointed  to  take  charge  of  this  issue  and  note 
to  whom  it  was  paid  for  services  or  loaned  on  security;  the 
interest  paid  for  its  use  going  to  the  treasuries  of  the  three 
counties  named  in  the  bill.    This  is  the  first  issue  of  current 
money  of  paper  issued  on  American  soil,  though  the  Indians 
used  a  legal  tender  of  shells  made  under  the  personal  sanc- 
tion of  their  chief  in  settlement  of  their  debts  one  to  another. 

6.  The  Reverse  Side  of  these  Bills  were  as  follows,  both 
the  face  and  the  reverse  being  copied,  fac-simile,  from  the 

old  money  now 
in  possession  of 
the  writer.  The 
fac-similies  of 
these  old  moneys 
will  be  valuable, 
as  they  repre- 
sent things  of  the 
past  and  point 
the  way  to  better 
money  in  the 
future.  The  ex- 
istence of  this 
money  did  not 
prevent  men 
from  obtaining 
gold  or  silver 
coins,  or  any- 
thing else  their 
fancy  craved 
that  was  in  sight 
or  known  of.  It 
did  not  lessen 
the  value  of  any 
pile  of  land  or 
other  property. 
It  was  a  new 

birth.    A  new  creation.    A  public  benefit,  as  it  increased  by 
its  volume  the  sum  of  circulating  medium,  which  was  too 


of  His 
Geo. 
.Dat- 
tbe  Firjt 

*'l, 


First  Continental  Money. 


546 


THE  FIRST  MONEY  ISSUED  IN  AMERICA. 


small  for  the  good  of  a  people  disposed  to  enterprise  and  to 
be  useful  by  going  into  debt  for  improvements. 

7.  Continental    Scrip. — To    the    continental    scrip  of 
olden  time  attention  is  called.    It  differs,  as  will  be  seen, 
from  the  bills  of  King  George,  or  from  greenbacks,  as  it 
does  not  declare  itself  to  have  power  to  pass  current,  nor  to 
be  a  legal  tender.     It  promises  nothing,  but  entitles  the 
bearer  to  receive  five  Spanish  milled  dollars.    That  is,  five 
pieces  of  silver  minted  in  Spain  and  with  rough  edges,  or 
the  value  thereof  in  gold  or  silver,  so  that  if  this  continental 
bill  was  redeemed  it  could  be  redeemed  in  Spanish  money, 
or  in  metals,  at  such  intrinsic  value  as  they  might  have  in 
the  scales  of  trade. 

8.  Legal  Tender. — The  power  that  emitted  these  bills  of 
credit  did  not  declare  them  to  be  legal  tender  for  the  pay- 
ment of  debts;  did  not  declare  them  receivable  by  the  gov- 
ernment; did  not  give  to  them  any  function  to  perform  as 
money;  did  not  attach  a  penalty  for  counterfeiting  because 
they  were  not,  as  bills,  in  possession  of  power  to  arbitrate  a 
debt.     Had  Congress  declared  this  currency  of  olden  time 
to  be  legal  tender  money  always  held  at  par  by  its  parent, 
it  would  always  have  ranked  with  the  most  precious  metals 
or  productions  of  power  as  a  thing  to  pay  debts. 


UNITED  STATES  SEAL. 


PAPER  MONEY. 


547 


-FAKIR- 
Is  where  you  get  your  money's  worth." 


Paper  Money  in  the  United  States. 

The  English.colonies  soon  after  their  settlement  issued 
paper  money.  Massachusetts  took  the  lead,  in  order  to 
secure  funds  to  besiege  Quebec. 

The  circulation  of  paper  money  increased  until  hard 
money  became  in  great  demand,  and  much  of  the  paper 
money  was  not  worth  10  per  cent,  of  its  face  value. 

In  the  War  of  Independence,  Congress  first  issued  three 
million  of  paper  dollars.  It  was  increased  to  $160,000,000, 
then  to  $359,000,000,  and  in  1781  it  had  no  rating  and  was 
not  taken  at  1  per  cent,  of  its  face  value. 


548 


PAPER   MONEY. 


BANK  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Upon  the  adoption  of  the  United  States  Constitution  the 
issuing  of  paper  money  ceased,  and  gold  and  silver  became 
the  new  circulating  medium.  The  Bank  of  North  America, 
organized  and  controlled  by  the  United  States,  with  a  capital 
of  $10,000,000,  was  greatly  embarrassed,  and,  owing  to  its 
loans  to  the  government,  it  was  compelled  to  increase  its 
note  circulation  to  an  enormous  amount.  This  increase  of 
paper  money  aroused  suspicion;  people  refused  the  notes; 
every  one  struggled  to  obtain  hard  money,  hence  it  became 
impossible  to  borrow  money,  and  bankruptcy  followed. 

In  1790  Mr.  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  pro- 
posed the  organization  of  the  national  bank  to  Congress,  and 
in  1794  it  began  operations  under  the  name,  "  Bank  of  the 
United  States,"  with  a  capital  of  $10,000,000,  $8,000,000  being 
subscribed  by  private  individuals  and  $2,000,000  by  the  gov- 
ernment. 


New  Hampshire  Shilling,  Coined  1776. 

Two  million  of  this  sum  were  to  be  paid  in  metallic 
money,  and  $6,000,000  in  state  bonds;  the  charter  was  to 
continue  till  March  4,  1811.  This  bank  paid  an  average 
dividend  of  8  per  cent.  The  success  of  the  bank  led  peo- 
ple to  believe  that  it  was  all  owing  to  the  issuing  of  paper 
money  when  the  true  cause  was  the  prosperity  oi  the 
country.  In  consequence,  the  "Farmers  Bank  of  Lancas- 
ter" was  founded,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $300,000;  others 
rapidly  followed  and  great  excitement  prevailed. 

In  1812  the  capital  of  the  banks  had  risen  to  nearly 
$80,000,000,  and  there  were  already  eighty-eight  banks  in 
existence.  After  the  declaration  of  war  with  England 
(June,  1812)  there  was  a  great  demand  for  dollar  pieces, 
owing  to  the  East  Indian  and  Chinese  trade,  and  when 
this  demand  was  made  for  coin,  it  was  a  warning  to 
the  banks,  who  found  it  difficult  to  meet  the  demands  of 
their  creditors  by  redeeming  their  notes  in  gold  or  silver. 


DIFFERENT  COMMODITIES  USED  AS  MONEY.  549 

The  war,  however,  put  a  stop  to  the  exportation  of  precious 
metals,  and  to  a  certain  degree  limited  thfe  circulation  of 
paper,  consequently  loans,  and  enormous  sums  of  money 
were  distributed  among  individuals  and  among  the  states. 
Trade  everywhere  was  stimulated,  people  were  carried 
away  with  speculation,  and  every  one  seemed  to  indulge  in 
golden  dreams.  ;.  « 

In  Pennsylvania  in  1813  forty-one  banks  with  a  capital  of 
$17,000,000  were  authorized  by  a  large  majority.  '  The  banks 
soon  discovered  the  method  of  discounting  their  own  stock. 
They  thus  increased  the  amount  of  notes,  which  depreciated 
in  comparison  with  hard  money, and  dissipated  on  all  sides 
the  hope  of  exchanging  with  it,  and  in  the  absence  of  the 
demand  from  abroad  for  hard  money,  the  demand  came 
from  within  our  own  borders. 

All  remittances  in  New  England  could  only  be  made  in 
hard  money,  and  the  laws  of  New  England  compelled  all 
banks  to  pay  a  penalty  of  12  per  cent,  upon  the  annual  in- 
terest payments  of  those  persons  who  did  not  pay  their 
notes.  Consequently  the  banks  were  not  able  to  respond 
to  the  demands  for  redemption,  and  hence  suspension 
of  the  banks  followed. 


The  Maryland  Shilling,  Coined  in  1659  by  Lord 
Baltimore. 


Different  Commodities  Used  as  Money. 

Any  article  of  wealth — /.  e.  anything  which  has  value — 
may  be  used  as  money.  Tin  was  thus  employed  in  ancient 
Syracuse  and  Britain,  while  to  the  same  purpose  we  find 
iron  in  Sparta,  cattle  in  Rome  and  Germany,  a  preparation 
of  leather  among  the  Carthaginians,  platinum  in  Russia, 
lead  in  Burmah,  nails  ir\  Scotland,  pieces  of  silk  among  th$ 


550  MONEY. 


Massachusetts   Cent,  Connecticut  Cent, 

1787.  1785. 

Chinese,  cubes  of  pressed  tea  in  Tartary,  salt  in  Abys- 
sinia, cowrie-shells  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  slaves  among  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  tobacco  in  Virginia,  codfish  m  Newfound- 
land, bullets  and  wampum  in  the  early  history  of  Massa- 
chusfijts,  logwood  in  Campeachy,  sugar  in  the  West  Indies, 
soap  in  Mexico,  etc.  But  from  the  time  of  Abraham,  when 
he  paid  (Gen.  xxiii.,  16)  to  the  children  of  Heth  400  shekels 
of  silver,  "  current  money  with  the  merchant  "—the  earliest 
historical  record  of  a  purchase  with  money  till  now,  gold 
and  silver  have  been  the  money  with  civilized  and  com- 
mercial people. 


Philosophy  and  Laws  that  Govern 
and  Control  the  Value  of  Money. 

1.  Good  Government. — The  great  majority  of  people 
desire  good  government,  and  they  work  and  vote  with  a  view 
of  securing  the  same.    Parties  are  organized  by  men  for  the 
purpose  of  promulgating  ideas,  which  if  carried  into  effect, 
will  give  the  people  good  government. 

2.  Trusts  and  Combinations  of  Capital. — The  people 
give  to  members  of  Congress  the  power  to  act  for  them  and  to 
protect  their  interests  in  all  legislation.    No  sooner,  how- 
ever, is  a  party  installed  in  office  and  power  than  men  who 
have  associated  themselves  together  and  organized  corpora- 
tions, trusts  and  combinations  of  capital,  seek  to  secure 
such  legislation  at  the  hands  of  Congress  as  will  be  favor- 
able to  their  respective  interests. 


MONEY.  551 

3.  Philosophy  of  Money.— The  legislation  on  the  part 
of  Congress  concerning  money  has  been  secured  by  very 
questionable  methods,  and  while  there  has  been  verv  much 
public  discussion  on  the  subject  at  times  the  people  seem 
to  have  no  adequate  conception  of  the  philosophy  of  money 
and  the  laws  that  govern  and  control  the  value  of  money. 
Most  congressmen  have  no  clearer  understanding  of  the 
subject  than  the  people  whom  they  represent,  and  thev  are, 
therefore,  easily  persuaded  to  adopt  the  theories  ana  con- 
clusions of  the  "great  financiers"  of  this  country  and  of 
Europe,  and  to  enact  the  same  into  laws. 


4.  No  Greater  Question. — There  is  no  greater  or  more 
important  question  for  the  consideration  of  men  at  this  time 
in  this  country  than  the  money  question.    It  is  the  paramount 
question  anci  the  one    that  is  the  least  understood  by  the 
people.    It  affects  all  interests  and  all  classes  of  people. 
Never  before  in  the  history  of  this  country  has  the  question 
been  so  generally  considered  by  the  people  as  at  the  present 
time.    As  much  as  there  has  been  written  and  said  on  the 
subject  during  the  past  thirty  years,  the  people  have  appar- 
ently learned  nothing  concerning  the  matter.    The  trouble 
has  been  that  the  people  have  followed  the  advice  of  those 
who  have  secured  financial  legislation  in  their  own  interests, 
and  they  have  refrained  from  investigating  the  question 
themselves,  and  therefore  have  not  learned  or  become 
familiar  with  the  laws  that  govern  and  control  money  and  its 
value.    Instead  of  thinking  and  acting  for  themselves  they 
have  permitted  others  to  think  and  act  for  them  upon  the 
subject.    They  have  been  so  busily  engaged  in  the  pursuit 
of  money  that  they  have  had  no  time  to  consider  the  philos- 
ophy of  money  or  the  laws  affecting  money,  and  are  quite 
content  to  turn  the  whole  matter  over  to  the  "able  and  suc- 
cessful financier." 

5.  Financial  Panics. — Financial  panics  come  and  go, 
and  still  people  do  not  seem  to  understand  what  it  is  that  pro- 


552  MONEY. 

duces  them.  During  such  times  one  hears  on  every  hand 
the  statements  that  "  times  are  hard,"  "  money  is  scarce," 
"there  is  no  business,"  and  the  like.  All  sorts  of  reasons 
are  given  for  financial  panics  except  the  right  one.  Among 
the  various  reasons  alleged  are  "overproduction,"  "lack  of 
confidence,"  "  tinkering  with  tariff,"  "  extravagance  of  the 
people,"  " too  much  money,"  "change  of  administration," 
"too  much  immigration,"  etc. 

6.  The  Money  Owners  and  the  Owners  of  Bonds  issued 
by  nations  and  municipalities  understand  full  well  what  it  is 
that  produces  financial  panics.     It  is  they,  and  they  alone, 
who,  through  the  manipulation  of  the  volume  of  the  money 
and  the  legislation  affecting    the  same  produce  financial 
panics.    Their  greatest  opportunity  for  making  money  is 
during  the  period  of  a  money  famine,  and  the  more  fre- 
quently they  occur  the  more  of  the  wealth  of  the  world  they 
are  able  to  secure.    Such  people  mak^  no  public  speeches, 
write  no  essays  and  they  are  not  interviewed  by  newspapers 
on  the  subject  of  money.   They  employ  others  to  do  that  work 
for  them.    They  have  more  effective  methods  of  securing 
what  they  want,  and  those  methods  are  not  understood  by 
the  people.    The  people  feel  the  effect,  but  they  do  not 
comprehend  the  cause  of  a  financial  panic.    They  fail  to 
understand  that  a  financial  panic  is  simply  a  money  famine, 
and  that  it  is  produced  by  the  retirement  of  a  large  volume 
of  money  from  circulation  in  the  country  where  the  panic 
occurs.    No  financial  panic  ever  was,  or  ever  can  be  pro- 
duced, in  this  or  any  other  country,  except  by  taking  out  of 
circulation  a  large  volume  of  money. 

7.  All  Money  the  Creature  of  Law. — All  money,  except 
such  as  is  used  by  common  consent  is  the  creature  of  law, 
manufactured  and  put  in  circulation  by  the  government  in 
pursuance  of  law.     Under- our  Constitution  money  may  be 
coined  out  of  any  material  that  Congress  may  designate, 
and  when  any  material  is  manufactured  into  money  by  the 
government  in  pursuance  of  law  and  made  a  legal  tender 
for  all  debts,  public  and  private,  -such  money  becomes, 
when  put  in  circulation,  a  medium  of  exchange.     But  we 
must  remember  that  money  has  two  essentially  distinct 
offices.     First,  it  is  a  medium  of  exchange ;  and  second,  it 
is  a  measure  of -values.     A  measure  of  anything  must  have 
the  property  which  it  attempts  to  measure.     That  is,  value 
can  be  measured  only  by  that  which  has  value.    We  speak 
of  greenbacks  and  bank  bills  as  money ;  so  they  are  in  the 
broader  sense  as  media  of  exchange;  but  they  have  no 
value  in  themselves ;  their  value  lies  in  what  they  represent, 


MONEY.  553 

The  national  government  designates  what  shall  be  the 
media  of  exchange,  and  says  how  much  of  one  of  these 
media  shall  be  the  unit  of  measure  for  values,  but  it  has 
no  power  to  place  a  value  on  that  measuring  unit.  It  may 
attempt  so  to  do,  but  it  will  fail.  Nature's  laws  are  above 
those  of  man. 

The  law  may  say  that  certain  coins  of  gold  and  silver, 
and  certain  forms  of  debts,  as  greenbacks  and  bank  bills, 
shall  be  the  media  of  exchange.  Also,  that  a  certain  num- 
ber of  grains,  coined  gold  (the  dollar)  shall  be  the  stand- 
ard, but  it  can  not  place  a  value  upon  the  gold  in  the  dol- 
lar. The  laws  of  demand  and  supply  do  that. 

8.  Price  is  value  measured  by  a  standard.     The  price  of 
an  individual  piece  of  merchandise  depends  upon  supply 
and  demand  for  these  goods.     The  average  price  of  all 
objects  of  value  entering    into  free  competition  in  the 
world's  markets  depends  upon  the  value  of  the  gold  in  the 
dollar — the  measuring  unit  of  all  values. 

9.  Making  Money. — People  talk  about  making  money 
in  some  enterprise,  as  though  they  really  made,  manufac- 
tured it ;  but,  of  course,  that  is  only  a  figure  of  speech. 

If  the  government  had  never  made  any  money,  other 
means  would  have  been  resorted  to  in  order  to  effect  ex- 
changes of  property. 

10.  Prices  Rise  and  Fall.— Money  is  the  blood  of  com- 
merce.    Its  quantity  must  be  sufficient  for  health ;  its  qual- 
ity must  be  good ;  its  circulation  should  be  natural  and 
free.     Too  much  money  in  circulation  leads  to  extravagance 
and  speculation ;  in  due  time  comes  re-action  and  panic. 
Insufficient  money  with  which  to  meet  the  demands  of 
legitimate  business  brings  a  congested  condition  of  the 
money  market. 

11.  The  purchasing  power  of  money  depends  upon  the 
value  of  the  circulating   medium    itself.      Cheap  money 
makes  dear  goods  and  high  wages ;  but  it  pays  debts  more 
easily.     Dear  money  brings  cheap  goods  and  lower  wages. 
In  short,  after  the  financial  conditions  are  fully  adjusted  to 
a  sound  financial  system,  the  question  of  the  kind  of  money 
plays  but  a  small  part  in  business.     Money  is  an  expression 
of  ratio  between  values.     The  ratio  should  be  as  firmly 
fixed  as  possible.     When  that  is  done,  money  has  little  to 
do  with  its  second  function — to  measure  values.       This 
leaves  the  laws  of  trade  to  act  freely  and  naturally.     Prices 
rise  and  fall  because  of    demand    and    supply,  and    not 
according  to  the  changing  ratio  of  money. 

12.  Money  Famine. — There  are  three  classes  of  people 
who  are  always  benefited  by  a  money  famine — the  money 


554  MONEY. 

owner  and  the  bond  holder  out  of  debt,  the  annuitant  and 
recipient  of  fixed  incomes,  arid  public  officers  and  others  who 
receive  fixed  salaries.  The  amount  such  people  receive  by 
way  of  income  or  salary,  or  interest  enables  them  to  buy  more 
and  more  property  and  labor  as  the  prices  of  property  and 
labor  fall.  Nearly  all  such  people  are  anxious  to  have  pro- 
perty decrease  in  price,  since  they  would  then  be  able  to  live 
better  and  purchase  more  with  their  money.  Those  who  are 
benefited  most  are  they  who  receive  the  largest  incomes. 
The  money  owners  and  bondholders  are  among  those  who 
have  secured  legislation  in  this  country  under  which  a  large 
portion  of  the  volume  of  money  in  the  country  has  been 
destroyed,  by  reason  of  which  prices  of  property  and  labor 
in  general  have  fallen  more  than  one-half  since  1869. 

13.  Falling  Prices. — It  is  to  the  interest  of  the  money 
owner  and  bondholder  out  of  debt,  and  the  man  with  fixed 
income,  to  have  a  constantly  shrinking  volume  of  money,  for 
the  reason  that  there  would  be  constantly  falling  prices  and 
therefore  they  would  be  able  to  live  better  and  better,  year 
by  year,  at  less  and  less  cost.    Such  people,  and  those  who 
depend  upon  them,  are  they  who  are  working  assiduously 
to  prevent  the  manufacture  on  the  part  of  the  government 
of  more  money  and  at  the  present  time  they  are  having 
their  own  way  about  the  matter. 

14.  The  Panic  of  1857  was  brought  about  by  an  act  of 
Congress  demonetizing  more  than  $200,000,000  of  foreign 
coin,  which  up  to  February  21, 1857,  had  been  a  legal  tender, 
under  act  of  Congress,  in  this  country,  for  all  debts,  public 
and  private,  and  for  no  other  cause  whatever. 

15.  The  Panic  of  1873  was  produced  by  the  destruction, 
under  the  laws  of  Congress,  of  more  than  $1,300,000,000  of 
paper  money  and  the  act  of  February  12,  1873,  which  pro- 
hibited the  further  manufacture  of  silver  into  money.    The 
destruction  of  money  continued  under  said  acts  of  Congress 
after  that  panic  commenced  until  the  Bland  act  was  passed 
in  1878,  which  authorized  the  manufacture  of  silver  into 
dollars  at  the  rate  of  not  less  than  two  million  a  month.     If 
it  had  not  been  for  that  law  what  would  have  been  the  con- 
dition of  the  country  now?     No  human  being  can  tell. 

16.  The  Panic  of  1893  was  made  possible  by  the  laws 
enacted  by  Congress  concerning  money  since  April  12, 1866. 
The  question  is,  What  produced  the  panic  of  1893?    Many 
say  it  was  "want  of  confidence,"  "  fear  of  tariff  legislation," 
"  Democratic  ascendancy  and  incompetency  "  and  "fear  oi 
destroying  the  tariff  or  changing  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  de- 
stroy protected  interests."    All    such   statements  are  the 
merest  twaddle.    Everybody  has  confidence  in  money,  but 


MONEY.  555 

nobody  seems  to  have  had  confidence  in  property,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  property  was  constantly  falling  in 
price.  All  the  property  in  the  country  was  ready  to  be  ex- 
changed for  money,  and  everybody  seemed  to  be  anxious 
to  get  money,  but  was  unable  to  do  so.  The  manufacturer 
could  not  employ  men  because  he  had  no  money  with 
which  to  pay  them.  He  was  perfectly  willing  to  manufac- 
ture, but  he  was  unable  to  sell  his  products  when  manu- 
factured, because  the  consumer  had  no  money  to  buy  his 
products.  There  was  an  abundance  of  labor.  Men  were 
willing  and  anxious  to  work,  but  there  was  no  money  with 
which  to  pay  them,  and,  therefore,  they  were  idle.  Mer- 
chants were  anxious  and  willing  to  sell  their  wares,  but 
they  could  not  do  so  because  the  people  had  no  money  with 
which  to  purchase  them.  What  was  the  trouble  then? 
Simply  and  solely  a  scarcity  of  money !  It  was  stated  upon 
every  hand  that  there  was  just  as  much  money  in  the 
country  as  ever.  This  statement  was  not  true ;  but  if  it  were 
true,  it  does  not  follow  that  there  was  enough  money,  or 
that  the  shortage  of  money  had  not  produced  this  condition. 

17.  The  Panic  of  1893  was  doubtless    caused  by  the 
fear  of  the  working  of  the  Sherman  Silver- Purchasing  Act 
of  1890.     By  this  act  the  national  government  was  com- 
pelled to  purchase  a  certain  amount  of  silver  each  month, 
and  to  issue  silver  certificates  for  the  bullion  thus  brought 
into  the  national  treasury.     It  was  feared  that,  if  these  pur- 
chases continued,  we  would  soon  be    on  a  silver  basis. 
There  were,  perhaps,  many  other  minor  causes  for  the  panic, 
but  the  fundamental  cause  was,  in  this,  as  in  others,  the  dis- 
turbing influence  of  doubt  as  to  the  medium  of  exchange. 

18.  The  Evil  Results  of  the  Panic  of  1893.— Run   on 
banks  caused  many  of  them  to  fail,  factories  and  machine- 
shops  clo'sed,  or  run  on  short  time.     Workmen  were  thrown 
out  of    employment.     All    the  sufferings  common  to  all 
panics  fell  on  the  nation.     The  depressing  effects  of  this 
panic  dragged  its  slow  length  along  for  several  years. 

IQ.  The  Panic  of  1893  the  Same  as  1873.— The  panic  of 
1893  is  simply  a  continuation  of  the  panic  of  1873.  The  panic 
of  1893  was  produced  in  the  same  way  that  all  other  panics 
are  produced,  viz.:  By  taking  out  of  circulation  a  large 
volume  of  money;  nothing  more  or  nothing  less.  The  question 
is  how  was  it  done?  Easy  enough!  The  quantity  of  money 
in  this  country  is  so  small  that  the  retirement  of  a  small 
amount  from  circulation  would  produce  a  panic  at  any  time. 
Indeed,  for  years  panics  have  been  averted  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  from  time  to  time  coming  to  the  relief  of 


556        DIMENSIONS  OF  ALL  THE   GOLD  AND   SILVER. 

Wall  street  and  paying  out  of  the  treasury  large  sums  of 
money  to  assist  the  banks  and  moneyed  men  in  Wall  street 
in  their  financial  troubles.  Was  this  paternalism?  If  not, 
what  was  it  ? 

20.  Value  of  All  Property.— It  is  estimated  that  the  value 
of  all  the  property  of  this  country,  real,  personal  and  mixed,  is 
about  $64,000,000,000.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  price  of  all 
this  property  has  shrunken  since  January  1,  189d,  as  a  con- 
sequence of  this  financial  panic  not  less  than  $10,000,000,000, 
and  possibly  a  great  deal  more,  saying  nothing  of  the  loss 
of  wealth  that  might  have  been  created  by  the  millions  of 
men  who  have  been  forced  out  of  employment  since  the 
panic  commenced. 

Dimensions  of  All  the  Gold  and  Silver 

in  the  World  or  Proportions 

of  the  Metals. 

1.  Gold  and  Silver. — We  find  on  authority  of  the  direct- 
or of  the  United  States  mint    that  all  the  gold  (coin  and 
bullion)  in  the  world  in  1890,  available  for  money,  was  less 
than  $3,900,000,000,  or  in  weight  188,651,368  ounces.    Also 
that  all  of  the  silver  (coin  and  bullion)  so  available  was 
practically  $3,820,000,000  or,  2,954,558,290  ounces. 

There  are  therefore  in  existence  practically  (less  than)  16 
ounces  of  silver  for  each  ounce  of  gold,  and,  at  this  ratio 
less  than  $80,000,000  difference  between  the  total  values  of 
the  two  metals. 

2.  Both    Metals    Equally    Imperishable. — The    silver 
man  says,  both  metals  being   equally  imperishable  and 
otherwise  fitted  for  use  as  the  basis  of  more  convenient 
money  than  either,  is  it  right  and  healthy  that  gold  should 
be  double  in  purchasing  power,  while  silver,  the  world-wide 
money  metal  of  the  middle  and  poorer  classes,  is  robbed  of 
its  money  value  and  debased? 

3.  Bulk. — But  what  of  the  alleged  overbulkiness  of 
silver?    All  of  the  gold  in  the  world  available  for  money, 
cast  in  a  solid  block,  would  scarcely  equal  a  cube  of  22  feet, 
while  all  the  silver  so  available  would  make  a  solid  cube  of 
but  66  feet,  neither  one  very  large,  and  the  accompanying 
sketch  not  only  disposes  of  the  "  bulk  "  bugaboo,  but  sug- 
gests several  pertinent  questions — for  instance: 

Which,  a  national  currency  based  upon  the  smaller  cube 
(gold)  or  one  sustained  by  both  cubes  (gold  and  silver),  would 
be  the  most  stable,  elastic,  and  least  readily  cornered  and 
speculated  with? 


blMENSIONS  OF   ALL  THE   GOLD  AND  SILVER.        657 

blMENSIONS  OF  ALL  GOLD  AND  SILVER  IN  THE 

WORLD  AVAILABLE  FOR  MONEY  IF 

CAST  IN  SOLID    CUBES. 


x  £>e>  x  €>6> 

^5^,5580   OuxwttS  _____  d8g.fe5t.5fcg 


15%  . 


36 


558  CHIEF   COINS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


The  First  United  States  Coins   1783.    Silver 
Weight,  1 1  O  Grains.      . 

Chief  Coins  of  the  United  States. 

The  dollar  is  the  unit  of  the  United  States. 

The  United  States  has  six  gold  coins,  as  follows: 

The  eagle,  value  $10;  the  double-eagle,  authorized  by 
act  of  Congress,  March  3, 1849;  the  half -eagle,  act  of  Con- 
gress, 1837;  the  $3  piece,  act  of  1853;  quarter-eagle,  act  of 
January,  1837;  and  the  $1  piece,  act  of  Congress,  March  3, 
1849. 

The  eagle,  half-eagle  and  quarter-eagle  were  first  author- 
ized by  act  of  Congress,  1792. 

The  gold  dollar,  being  so  small  as  to  be  inconvenient,  is 
used  for  specimens  only.  This  coin  was  largely  issued  in 
1849,  when  there  was  a  great  influx  of  gold  from  California. 

Our  silver  coins  are  as  follows: 

The  dollar,  act  of  1837;  the  half-dollar,  act  of  1853,  and 
legal  tender  not  exceeding  $5;  the  quarter-dollar,  also  legal 
tender  not  exceeding  $5;  the  dime  and  half-dime,  legal 
tender  not  exceeding  $1.  The  three-cent  piece,  legal  tender 
for  30  cents,  proved  too  small  for  convenient  use,  as  did  the 
half -dime. 

The  twenty-cent  piece  was  too  near  the  size  of  a  quarter 
of  a  dollar,  and  its  coinage  was  discontinued. 

The  first  silver  dollar  of  the  United  States  was  authorized 
by  act  of  Congress,  1792,  and  coined  in  1796.  The  half- 
dollar  and  quarter-dollar  were  first  authorized  in  1792. 

The  5-cent  piece  of  the  United  States  is  made  of  copper 
and  nickel,  authorized  by  act  of  May,  1866,  legal  tender 
to  the  amount  of  a  dollar. 

The  cent  is  88  per  cent,  copper  and  12  per  cent,  nickel, 
authorized  by  act  of  1857. 

The  two-cent  piece,  same  date,  is  legal  tender  to  the 
amount  of  20  cents;  the  one-cent  to  the  value  of  10  cents. 


GOLD   AND   SILVER   COINAGE. 


559 


Gold  and  Silver  Coinage  Statistics. 

The  following  coinage  statistics  were  compiled  by  the 
Tribune.  These  figures  show  which  of  the  two  metals  it 
was  the  people  handled  between  1792  and  1877: 

Coinage  of  Coinage  of 

Date.  gold.          silver  dollars. 

1793-95 $  71,485  $  204,791 

1796 102,727  72,920 

1797 103,422  7,776 

1798. 205,610  327,536 

1799 213,285  423,515 

1800 317,760  220,920 

1801 „ 422,570  54,454 

1802 423,310  41,650 

1803 258,377  66,064 

1804 258,642  19,570 

1805 170,367  321 

1806 324,505  

1807 437,495 

1808 284,665 

1809 169,375 

1810 501,435  

1811 497,905  

1812 290,435  

1813 477.140  

1814 77,270  

1815 3,175 

1816 

1817 ^§ 

1818 242,940  &$  ^ 

1819 258,615  #  8  r- 

1*20 319,030  g  °  g 

1821 189,325  s  £  ° 

1822 88,980  »  8~ 

1823 72,425  % 

1824 t 93,200 

1825 156,385 

1826 92,245  8  g£T 

1827 131,565  a*<3 

1828 { 140,145  &-•* 

1829 295,717  §  «  3 

1830 643,105  •  gf  ? 

1831 714,270  ?-8 

1832 798,435  ^  »' 

1833 978,550  .   P  8. 

1834 954,270  g  o- 

1835 186,175  3  *? 


560 


GOLD  AND  SILVER  COINAGE. 


Coinage  of  Coinage  of 

Date.                            gold.  silver  dollars. 

1836 135,700  1,000 

1837 148,305    

1838 809.595 

1839 1,355,885  300 

1840 1,675,302  61,005 

1841 1,091,597  173,000 

1842 1,834,170  184,618 

1843... 8,108,797  165,100 

J844 5,428,230  20,000 

1845 3,756,447  24,500 

1846 4,034,177  169,600 

1847 20,221,385  140,750 

1848 3,775,512  15,000 

1849 9,007,761  62,600 

1850 31,981,738  47,500 

1851 62,614,492  1,300 

1852 56,846,187  '  1,100 

1853 39,377,909  46,110 

1854 25,915,918  33,140 

1855 28,977,968  26,000 

1856 36,697,768  63,500 

1857 15,811,563  94,000 

1858 30,253,725     

1859 17,296,077  288,500 

1860 16,445,476  600,530 

1861 60,693,237  559,900 

1862 45,532,386  1,750 

1863 20,695,852  31,400 

1864 21,649,345  23,170 

1865 25,107,217  32,900 

1866 28,313,945  58,550 

1867 28,217,187  57,000 

1868 18,114,425  54,800 

1869 21,828,637  231,350 

1870 22,257,312  588,308 

1871 21,302,475  657,929 

1872 20,376,495  1,112,961 

1873 35,249,337  977,150 

1874 50,442,690  "Crime"  p'd. 

1875 33,553,965  "Crime"  p'd. 

1876 38,178,962  "Crime"  p'd. 

1877 44,078,199  "Crime"  p'd. 


Total $983,159,695 


$8,045,838 


Total  coinage  of  trade  dollars,  1874-77,  24,581,350. 


HISTORY  OF  GOLD  AND  SILVER  LEGISLATION.      561 

A  Complete  History  of  Gold  and 

Silver   Legislation   in  the 

United   States. 

1.  England's    Double   Standard.— When  the  Puritans 
came  to  Massachusetts  Bay  in  1630,  England  alone  of  all  the 
nations  of  Europe  was  endeavoring  to  maintain  the  double 
standard.     In    all    continental    countries    silver    was    the 
accepted   standard.     England    struggled    for    years    with 
bimetallic  difficulties  in  its  attempt  to  sustain  the  two  metals. 
In  1798  the  coinage  of  silver  was  suspended  and  the  recep- 
tion of  silver  to  be  coined  prohibited.    Gold  becomes  the 
single  standard  of  a  country  when  the  mints  are  closed  to 
private  coinage  of  other  metals,  and  consequently  the  gold 
standard  was  formally  adopted  in  1816. 

Silver  is  still  legal  tender  in  Great  Britain,  but  only  to 
the  amount  of  £2. 

2.  Bimetallism  in  the  United  States. — The  experience 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States  with  bimetallism 
during  the  first  eighty  years  of  its  history  was  somewhat 
similar  to  that  of  France.     It  had  a  theoretical  double  stand- 
ard, but  was  practically  monometallic.    The  two  political 
enemies,  Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  agreed  that  both  metals 
should  be  used,  and  that  the  ratio  should  be  15  to  1.     Both 
metals  were  agreed  upon,  because  gold  and  silver  had  been 
the  money  metals  of  the  world. 

3.  Silver  Monometallism. — The  first  coinage  act  of  this 
country  was  passed  in  1792,  but  the  first  silver  was  actually 
coined   in  1794.     From  1792  to  1834  we   really  had  silver 
monometallism   under  a    double    standard.      Gold   disap- 
peared from  circulation.     Specie  payments  were  suspended 
in  1814  and  metallic  money  was  practically  unknown. 

4.  Gold  Monometallism. — From  1834  to  1873  we  have 
practically    had    gold    monometallism    under    a    double 
standard.      In  1834  a  movement  began  in  the  interest  of 
gold.     Congress  changed  the  ratio  from  15  to  1  to  16  to  1. 
Silver  became  the  more  valuable   metal   and  disappeared 
from  circulation.     Silver  coins  were  exported  largely  from 
this  country. 

5.  Act  of   1873.— When   the  act  of  1873  was  passed 
extraordinary  movements  affecting  currency  were  going  on 
everywhere.     Silver  had  been  demonetized  before  that  time. 
That  act  was  a  mere  formal  declaration   of  a  fact.     After 
1873  and  until  1878  the  country  was  not  only  in  fact  but  in 
law  on  a  gold  basis. 


562       HISTORY  OF   GOLD  AND   SILVER   LEGISLATION. 

6.  Silver  Interests  Advanced. — Gold   was  the  native 
product   that  appealed   successfully  to  Congress  for   pro- 
tection, but  for  various  reasons  by  1876  silver  was  becoming 
the  national  metal.     In  that  year  Colorado  was  admitted 
as  a  state.     The  silver  interests  thus  secured  two  senators 
in  Congress.     One  of  these  was  Henry  M.  Teller,  who  is 
still  a  member  of  the  body,  and  is  an  able  and  experienced 
advocate  of  the  cause  of  the  free  coinage  of  silver.     The 
Bland  bill,  passed  in  1878,  provided  for  the  coinage  of  not 
less  than  $'2,000,000  worth  or  silver  bullion  or  not  more  than 
$4,000,000  worth  "at  the  market  price  thereof,  the  bullion  to 
be   coined    into    412^   grain  dollars."     Free  coinage  was 
defeated.     President  Hayes  vetoed  the  bill,  but  on  the  same 
day  that  he  vetoed  it  both  houses  passed  it  over  his  veto. 
Under  this  act  the  treasury  never  coined  more  than  $2,000,- 
000  worth  of  silver  a  month. 

7.  Bill  of  Free  Coinage. — The  friends  of  silver  were 
not  satisfied.     They  insisted  that  the  government  should  do 
something  more  for  their  favorite  metal.     On  June  17, 1890, 
the  senate  passed  a  free  coinage  bill  by  a  vote  of  42  to  25. 
The  house  did  not  concur   and   there   was  a   compromise 
measure  agreed  upon  by  a   conference  committee,   uhich 
became    a    law,   known  as    the   Sherman  act.     This   law 
required  the  monthly  purchase  of  4,500,000  ounces,  and  the 
coinage  every  month  of  2,' 00,000  ounces  of  the  bullion  so 
purchased  until  July  1,  1891.    After  that,  bars  were  to  be 
coined  for  the  redemption    of    the   legal   tender  treasury 
notes  authorized  by  the  act.     The  act  recited  further  that 
it  was  the  "established  policy  of  the  United  States  to  main- 
tain the  two  metals  on  a  parity  with  each  other." 

8.  Effect  of  Sherman  Act. — The  operations  of  the  Sher- 
man law  were  quickly  felt.     Holders  of  American  securities 
became  alarmed,  lest  they  would  be  obliged  to  accept  pay- 
ment  in   silver,  and  a  general  hoarding  and  exportation 
of  gold  followed.     The   business  disaster  which  followed 
the  loss  of  confidence  in  pur  securities  and  inevitably  in 
each  other,  and  in  everything  else  that  usually  commands 
the  respect  of  business  men,  will  not  so  speedily  and  readily 
be  disposed  of  as  desired. 

9.  Repeal  of  Sherman  Act. — Congress  was  c  lied  together 
in  the  summer  of  1893  for  the  purpose  of  repealing  the  Sher- 
man act.    After  many  vexatious  delays,  involving  disaster 
and  loss  to  the  business   interests  of  the   country,  a  bill 
was  passed  unconditionally  repealing  the  purchasing  clause 
of  the  law. 

10.  Bimetallism  not  Practical.— Thus,  from  1792  to  1873, 
the  country  experimented  with  a  nominal  double  standard 


LEGAL  TENDER.  563 

Since  1873  there  has  been  a  single  standard,  but  since  1878 
more  silver  has  been  in  use  than  in  the  old  days  of  the 
double  standard,  when  the  silver  dollar  was  worth  103  cents 
and  would  not  circulate,  and,  therefore,  the  cheaper  100-cent 
gold  dollar  drove  it  out.  That  is  the  weakness  of  the  double 
standard.  If  the  two  metals  are  not  tied  together  so  closely 
that  they  do  not  pull  apart,  one  is  sure  to  get  the  better 
of  the  other.  As  they  have  equal  debt-paying  power  the 
cheaper  metal  will  be  given  the  preference  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  will  drive  the  other  out,  as  gold  did  silver.  The 
only  way  to  prevent  that,  and  keep  both  in  circulation, 
is  for  the  government  to  guarantee  that  the  coins  of  the 
cheaper  metal  shall  be  redeemed  in  the  other  if  desired, 
and  thus  kept  at  a  parity.  Whether  a  government  can  give 
such  a  guarantee  with  safety  depends  on  the  number  of  coins 
and  the  extent  of  the  divergence  in  values.  This  govern- 
ment will  not  guarantee  to  redeem  innumerable  50-cent 
silver  dollars  in  gold  dollars,  and  if  it  permitted  the  former 
to  be  coined,  without  a  guarantee,  all  the  gold  would  dis- 
appear at  once. 

ii.  Reflections. — These  developments  raise  the  point 
as  to  whether  the  whole  question  of  bimetallism  as  com- 
pared with  a  single  standard  either  of  gold  or  silver,  is  not 
being  satisfactorily  answered  by  the  course  of  events  out- 
side of  legislation.  From  now  on  the  offi  :es  of  legislation 
are  two — either  so  to  adapt  the  administrative  functions  as 
to  effectuate  the  rapidly  developing  unwritten  law  of  com- 
merce, and  thus  to  keep  a  people  at  the  very  fore  front  of 
civilization;  or,  either  to  refuse  thus  to  serve  it,  or  to  ob- 
struct it  in  serving  itself,  thereby  keeping  it  at  an  increas- 
ing disadvantage.  We  must  look  to  commercial  develop- 
ment rather  than  to  legislative,  for  signs  which  are  to  frame 
our  expectations. 


Legal  Tender. 

The  term  "  legal  tender  "  is  a  technical  expression  sig- 
nifying that  which  the  law  prescribes  to  be  paid  or  tendered 
in  order  to  discharge  a  debt,  satisfy  a  judgment,  fulfill  a 
money  contract  or  pay  taxes. 

The  very  object  or  a  legal  tender  law  must  necessarily 
be  to  establish  a  fixed  measure  or  standard  by  which  the 
value  repaid  or  returned  may  be  compared  with  and  made 
equal  to  the  value  received.  Hence,  when  a  law  gives  legal 
tender  force  to  several  kinds  of  money,  these  kinds  of 
money  must  always  be  preserved  at  eo^ual  value,  for  if  they 


564  16  TO  1. 

are  not  so  preserved  the  nature  of  the  legal  tender  law  is 
violated  and  its  object  defeated. 

The  Motor  of  Industry  is  not  money  but  moneys 
worth,  not  the  dollar  but  the  dollar's  worth,  not  the  name  of 
the  coin  but  its  value;  equality  of  value  not  the  same  sub- 
stance is  what  justice  asks. 


What  "  16  to  i  "  fleans. 

People  who  do  not  keep  themselves  closely  informed  upon 
current  political  discussion,  sometimes  ask  what  is  meant 
by  the  phrase,  "  16  to  1,"  so  often  heard  nowadays,  in  con- 
nection with  financial  discussions.  We  append  a  brief  ex- 
planation. 

The  standard  gold  dollar  of  the  United  States  weighs 
25.8  grains,  and  nine  tenths  of  this,  or  23.22  grains  is  pure 
gold.  The  standard  silver  dollar  weighs  412.5  grains,  and 
nine  tenths  of  this,  or  371.25  grains,  is  pure  silver.  Divid- 
ing the  371.25  grains  of  pure  silver  in  a  silver  dollar  by 
23.22,  the  pure  gold  in  a  gold  dollar  gives  15.98  or  (practi- 
cally) 16,  the  ratio  in  weight  of  the  two  metals  used. 

The  term  "16  to  1"  means  that  the  pure  silver  in  the 
standard  dollar  weighs  about  sixteen  times  as  much  as  the 
pure  gold  in  the  gold  dollar. 

One  man  said  he  was  in  favor  of  it  because,  as  he  under- 
stood it,  every  time  the  government  coined  a  gold  dollar 
they  coined  sixteen  silver  dollars.  That  was  his  idea.  Now, 
"  16  to  1 "  simply  means  this:  That  the  value  of  an 
ounce  of  gold  shall  by  law  be  equal  to  the  value  of  sixteen 
ounces  of  silver.  It  means  that  weight  by  weight  a  gold 
dollar  will  weigh  one-sixteenth  as  much  as  a  silver  dollar. 
If  you  want  to  change  the  ratio  you  can  either  put  more 
silver  into  the  do  lar  or  take  some  gold  out  of  the  gold  dol- 
lar. That  is  a  thing  that  is  fixed  by  law. 

At  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  United  States 
mint  Congress  agreed  that  the  ratio  between  gold  and  sil- 
ver should  be  as  between  fifteen  pounds  to  one  pound,  this 
being  at  that  time  the  relative  value  of  the  two  metals.  It 
was  subsequently  found  that  this  ratio  gave  too  high  a  value 
to  silver  It  was  accordingly  changed  in  1834  to  16  to  1.  By 
this  action  Congress  jumped  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream. 
In  European  countries  the  ratio  had  been  fixed  at  15>^  to  1. 
As  a  result  the  silver  owners  of  the  United  States  shipped 
all  their  product  to  Europe  for  coinage,  and  until  1873, 
when  the  revision  of  the  coinage  laws  was  made,  only  about 
8,000,000  silver  dollars  had  been  coined. 


WILLIAM  J.  BRYAN. 
Democratic  Candidate  for  President,  1896  and 

Champion  of  Free  Silver. 
"  No  Crown  of  Thorns,  No  Cross  of  Gold/* 

565 


566  FREE   COINAGE. 

Under  the  Bland-Allison  act  400,000,000  silver  dollars 
were  coined,  and  these,  added  to  the  notes  issued  under  the 
Sherman  act,  make  the  total  amount  of  silver  in  our  cur- 
rency more  than  $500,000,000,  all  on  a  16  to  1  ratio, 

At  the  present  time  the  value  of  the  silver  in  the  mar- 
kets of  the  world  is  about  thirty  pounds  of  the  white  metal  to 
one  of  gold.  Our  people  would,  therefore,  under  the  ratio 
of  16  to  1  have  53-cent  dollars,  which  might  circulate  for 
their  face  value  in  the  United  States,  but  which  would  only 
be  accepted  at  their  bullion  value  abroad. 


Free  Coinage. 

But  there  is  another  matter  involved  in  the  present  cur- 
rency discussion  which  is  of  still  more  importance  than  the 
ratio.  That  is  the  question  of  the  "  free  coinage  "  of  silver. 
By  free  coinage,  is  meant  the  right  of  the  owner  of  any 
money  metal  to  take  the  same  to  a  government  mint  and 
have  it  coined  into  money,  or  what  amounts  to  the  same 
thing,  to  exchange  it  for  money  at  the  legal  coinage  ratio. 
Formerly,  the  law  gave  this  right  to  all  owners  of  both  gold 
and  silver  bullion,  but  in  1873  this  law  was  repealed  so  far 
as  it  applied  to  silver,  so  that  the  privilege  of  "free  coin- 
age "  now  applies  to  gold  alone. 

We  have  the  free  coinage  of  gold  now.  That  simply 
means  that  if  you  have  a  piece  of  gold  bullion  you  can  take 
it  to  the  mint  and  have  it  converted  into  gold  and  the  gold 
will  be  handed  back  to  you.  Now,  what  we  mean  by  free 
coinage  is  to  give  silver  the  same  rights  you  give  to  gold. 
If  a  man  has  a  silver  bullion  let  him  take  the  bullion  to 
the  mint,  have  it  converted  into  coin,  and  let  him  take  his 
silver  dollar  back  with  him.  That  is  what  free  coinage  means. 

Since  1873,  the  silver  money  of  the  United  States  has 
been  coined  from  silver  purchased  by  the  government  in 
the  open  market.  The  "free  coinage"  advocates  demand 
that  the  mints  shall  be  open  to  gold  and  silver  alike. 

So  when  a  man  says  he  is  in  favor  of  "free  coinage  at  a 
ratio  of  16  to  1,"  he  means  that  he  wants  the  government  to 
coin  into  lawful  money,  all  the  gold  and  silver  bullion  that 
may  be  offered  at  the  mint,  and  at  such  a  proportion  thai 
there  will  be  sixteen  times  as  much  (by  weight)  of  pure  silver 
in  a  silver  dollar  as  there  is  of  pure  gold  in  a  gold  dollar. 

Unlimited  coinage  means  that  there  shall  be  no  legal 
restriction  upon  the  amount  of  gold  or  silver  that  will  be 
coined.  In  other  words,  that  the  amount  shall  depend,  not 
upon  the  legislation,  but  upon  the  amount  of  bullion  brought 
to  the  mint, 


SILVER  DEMONETIZATION.  567 

Bimetallism. 

Bimetallism  is  simply  the  use  of  two  metals  instead  of 
one,  and  a  ratio  at  which  they  are  coined  is  a  question  to  be 
settled  by  law.  Bimetallism  may  exist  at  any  ratio.  It 
has  existed  at  different  ratios  from  time  to  time.  The  ratio 
is  to  be  fixed  by  the  government  for  the  benefit  of  the  peo- 
ple, who  must  use  money.  The  present  ratio  is  16  to  1. 

Bimetallism  means  that  you  use  two  metals  at  any  ratio 
and  thus  give  to  both  metals  equal  privileges  at  the  mint. 

Silver  Demonetization. 

In  1853  Congress  passed  a  law  making  the  silver  dollar 
a  legal  tender  for  five  dollars  only.  At  that  time  the  silver 
dollar  was  more  valuable  than  the  gold  dollar.  In  1873  a 
law  was  passed  totally  demonetizing  silver,  except  as  used 
in  the  smaller  coins ;  that  is,  there  was  to  be  no  more  free 
coinage  of  silver  dollars. 

The  change  was  the  more  easily  made  as  neither  gold 
nor  silver  circulated  at  the  time,  greenbacks  being  the 
basis  of  all  values  in  the  United  States. 

About  the  same  time  Germany  demonetized  silver.  A 
few  years  later  France  and  the  Lat;n  Union  stopped  the 
coinage  of  silver,  but  did  not  demonetize  it.  England  has 
had  the  single  gold  standard  since  1816. 

Most  people  believe  in  bimetallism,  but  differ  as  to  the 
best  method  of  reaching  and  sustaining  it. 

The  free  silver  people  think  the  old  free  silver  law  should 
be  restored.  Others  reply  that  the  silver  dollar  would 
become  the  standard  of  value,  and  gold  would  be  at  a 
premium,  or  would  disappear  altogether  as  money.  In 
that  case  the  creditor  would  be  compelled  to  receive  what 
is  due  him  in  depreciated  money.  This  would  be  as  unjust 
as  to  make  the  debtor  pay  in  ^predated  money. 

In  reply,  the  free  silver  people  say,  that,  if  the  mints  be 
opened  to  free  coinage,  the  silver  dollar  would  become  as 
valuable  as  the  gold  dollar,  because  the  gold  dollar  would 
then  decrease  and  the  stiver  increase  until  the  coins  would 
become  approximately  equal  in  purchasing  power. 

The  two  classes  of  thinkers  agree  that  both  gold  and 
silver  are  needed  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  commercial 
world.  But  the  problem  is  to  place  the  two  metals  on  an 
absolute  equality  before  the  law,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
maintain  a  single  standard  of  values,  which  standard  shall 
be  the  dollar  whose  commercial  value,  as  bullion,  is  the 
greater.  In  due  time  this  problem  will  be  solved. . 


568  THE  VOLUME   OF   MONEY. 

The  Volume  of  Money. 

1.  Two    Theories. — Much    controversy  exists    as    to 
what  volume  of  money  should  be  maintained  in  the  United 
States.     How  much  money  is  necessary  for  our  prosperity. 
There  are  two  theories — one  called  the  " per  capita  require- 
ment,"  which   is,  in  effect,  that  the  volume  of  money  in   a 
country  should  increase  in  proportion  as  the  increase  in  the 
total  number  of  inhabitants;  the  second  theory  is,  that  the 
volume    or  amount  of  currency  should  increase  with  in- 
creased wealth. 

2.  The  Per  Capita  Theory. — If  this  is  the  true  theory 
then  let  us  first  inquire  whether  there  really  is,  or  can  be,  any 
relation  between  the  number  of  people  in  a  country  and  the 
amount  of  money,  coins  and  notes,  existing  at  any  particular 
time.     If  there  is  no  such  relation  then  how  can  this  theory 
stand?    The  table  on  the  opposite  page  may  aid  us  in  this 
inquiry. 

This  table  conclusively  shows  that  no  such  relation  of 
currency  to  population  exists.  If  it  does  not  exist  in  coun- 
tries, it  requires  no  great  powers  of  reasoning  to  conclude 
that  it  also  fails  when  applied  to  smaller  communities,  the 
state,  the  city,  the  town,  the  house. 

3.  Makes  Money  Plentiful. — Many  people  favor  this 
theory,  for  as  the  population  increases  there   is  an  argu- 
ment   for  increased   issues  of  money  by  the  government, 
and  they  think  if  money  is  plentiful  prosperity  is  promoted. 
Simply   making  money    plentiful  cannot  influence   an  in- 
creased demand  for  any  man's  labor  or  products.     A   mer- 
chant may  have  thousands  of  men   of  wealth  passing  his 
store  every  day  without  selling   them   anything,  while  he 
may  be  doing  a  paying  business  with  the  laborers  and  men 
of  small  means.  As  the  money  in  the  pockets  of  the  wealthy 
in  this  case  brings  no  prosperity  to  the  merchant,  so  money 
lying  in  the  bank  or  in  the  treasury  will  bring  prosperity  to . 
no  man. 

4.  Confidence  Weakened. — An  unnecessary  increase  in 
the  amount  of  currency  tends  to  unsettle  values  and  disturbs 
trade.     The  money-lender  becomes  fearful  and  withholds 
his  money  from  circulation  and  people  say  it  is  scarce  again. 

5.  No  Limit. — At  this  rate  the  government  that  con- 
tinually increases  the  volume  of  money  without  very  good 
reasons  will  always  be  urged  to  increase  its  currency  so  as 
to  have  better  times.     Such  a  government  might  find  itself 
like  a   horse    going   down    hill  with  a    load    but  without 
brakes  on  the  wagon,  he  goes  faster  and  faster  with  every 
step,  but  at  the  same  time  increases  the  speed  that  is  driv- 
ing him  to  ruin. 


THE  VOLUME  OF   MONEY. 


569 


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GOLD— PER 
CAPITA. 


SILVER— PER 
CAPITA. 


PAPER— PER 
CAPITA. 


BANK  CRED- 
ITS—PER 
CAPITA. 


TOTAL— PER 
CAPITA. 


StO  SOUND  MONEY. 

Sound  Money. 

Hon.  John  G.  Carlisle,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  deliv- 
ered a  speech  on  sound  money  at  the  Auditorium,  Chicago, 
April  15,  1896,  from  which  we  quote  the  following: 

1.  Affects  Poor  Man. — It  is  the  poor  man,  and  the  man 
of  moderate  means,  the  man  who  has  not,  been  fortunate 
enough  to  accumulate  property  or  money,  but  who  depends 
upon  his  wages,  or  upon  the  products  of  his  own  labor, 
for  the  means  of  supporting  himself  and  his  family,  that 
always  feels  the  first  and  most  disastrous  effects  of  a  busi- 
ness or  industrial  depression,  no  matter  whether  it  results 
from  a  depreciated  and  fluctuating  currency  or  from  other 
causes. 

2.  Labor  His  Capital. — Such  a  man  has  nothing  to  dis- 
pose ot  but  his  labor,  and  nothing  with  which  to  support 
himself  or  his  family  but  the  wages  or  the  proceeds  of  his 
own  labor,  and  any  policy  that  even  temporarily  suspends 
or  obstructs  the  industrial  progress  of  the  country,  by  dimin- 
ishing the  demand  for  the  products  of  labor,  or  by  impairing 
the  capacity  or  disposition  of  capital  to  employ  labor,  must 
be  injurious  to  his  interests,  and  must  inflict  more  or  less 
suffering  upon  all  who  are  dependent  upon  him. 

3.  Labor  Must  be  Steady. — Labor  cannot  be  hoarded; 
the  idle  day  is  gone  forever;  lost  wages  are  never  reim- 
bursed; and  therefore  steady  employment  and  good  pay 
in  good  money  are  essential  to  the  comfort  and  happiness 
of  the  American  laborer  and  his  wife  and  children,  and  he 
will  be  unfaithful  to  himself  and  to  them  if  he  does  not 
insist  upon  the  adoption  and  maintenance  of  such  a  policy 
as   will    most   certainly   preserve   the   value   and   stability 
of  all  our  currency,  and  promote  the  regular  and  profit- 
able conduct  of  all  our  industrial  enterprises. 

4.  Financial  Depression  Brings  Ruin. — He  cannot  pros- 
per when  thai  country  is  in  distress,  when  its  industries  are 
prostrated,  its  commerce  paralyzed,  its  credit  broken  down, 
or  its  social  order  disturbed;  nor  can  he  prosper  when  the 
fluctuations  of  the  currency  are  such  that  he  cannot  certainly 
know  the  value  of  the  dollar  in  which  his  wages  are  paid, 
or  estimate  in  advance  the  cost  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 

5.  Silver  Advocates. — Their  naked  proposition  is  that 
the  United  Slates  shall  coin,  at  the  public  expense,  for  the 
exclusive  benefit  of  the  individuals  and  corporations  owning 
the  bullion,  all  the  silver  that  may  be  presented  at  the  mints 
into  dollars  worth  about  51  or  52  cents,  and  compel  all  the 
other  people  in  the  country  to  receive  these  coins  at  a  valu- 
ation of  100  cents  each  in  the  payments  of  debts  due  them 
for  property  sold,  for  labor,  and  services  of  all  kinds.  ( *i 


SOUNt)   MONEY.  571 

6.  Currency  Contracted. — To  say  nothing  of  the  gross 
partiality  and  manifest  injustice  o-f  such  a  policy,  its  imme- 
diate effect  would  be  to  contract  our  currency  to  the  extent 
of  about  $620,000,000  by  stopping  the  use  of  gold  as  money. 

7.  Depreciating  Currency. — While  the   sudden  expul- 
sion of  $620,000,000  in  gold  from  our  stock  of  money  would 
itself  be  sufficient  to  create  a  financial  disturbance  unpar- 
alled  in  the  history  of  this  or  any  other  country,  the  situation 
would  be  very  greatly  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  the  pur- 
chasing power  of  all  the  remainder  of  our  currency  would 
be  suddenly  reduced  about  one-half;  we  should  have  only 
two-thirds  as  much  currency  as  we  have  now,  and  at  the 
same  time  it  would  be  so  depreciated  in  value  that  it  would 
require  about  twice  as  much  as  we  have  now  to  transact  the 
business  of  the  country,  provided  there  should  be  any  busi- 
ness to  transact. 

8.  Failure  of  Double  Standard. — The  attempt  to  main- 
tain what  is  called  the  double  standard  of  value,  that  is,  the 
attempt  to  keep  the  legal  tender  coins  of  the  two  metals, 
gold  and  silver,  in  use  as  money  at  the  same  time,  upon 
the  ratio  of  value  fixed  by  law,  has  repeatedly  been  made 
by  kings  and  parliaments  in  every  civilized  country  in  the 
world,  and  it  has  failed  again  and  again  in  every  one  of 
them;  and  it  requires  no  gift  of  prophecy  to  foresee  that  it 
must  continue  to  fail  so  long  as  self-interest  constitutes  a 
controlling  factor  in  the  business  affairs  of  men. 

9.  Value  of  Money. — Money  received  for  wages,  like 
money  received  on  every  other  account,  is  valuable  only  to 
the  extent  that  it  can  be  exchanged  for  other  commodities, 
and  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  suggest  that  a  dollar  worth 
50  cents  will  not  purchase  as  much  in  the  markets  as  a 
dollar  worth  100  cents. 

10.     Affects  Past  Earnings  as  Well. — If  the  solution  of 
this  question  affected  only  the  character  and  amount  and 

Eurchasing  power  of  the  future  earnings  of  the  American 
iborer,  it  would  still  be  a  subject  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance to  him;  but  its  importance  is  greatly  increased  by  the 
fact  that  the  safety  and  value  of  a  very  considerable  part 
of  his  past  earnings  are  also  involved.  The  thrifty  and 
provident  working  man,  anticipating  a  time  when  he  may 
be  disabled  or  deprived  of  employment,  has  endeavored  to 
save  something  out  of  his  earnings  in  order  to  provide  for 
the  comfort  of  his  wife  and  children  in  the  future,  and  has 
laid  it  away  at  home  or  deposited  it  in  a  bank  or  building 
association,  or  invested  it  in  a  life  insurance  policy,  of 
loaned  to  some  friend  in  whom  he  has  confidence. 


572  FREE  SILVER. 

11.  Banics  and  Trust  Companies. — The  banks,  trust 
companies,  building  associations,  and  other  similar  institu- 
tions owe  the  people  of  the  United  States  today  $5,353,138,- 
621  for  money  actually  deposited,  a  sum  nearly  eight  times 
greater  than  the  total  capital  of  all  the  national  banks  in 
the  country;  while  the  life  insurance  policies  held  by  the 
people  in  the  various  kinds  of  corporations  and  associations 
and  in  force  today  amount  to  $10,213,804,357,  a  larger  sum 
than  there  has  been  actually  invested  in  all  our  railroads, 
and  about  fifteen  times  larger  than  the  capital  of  all  the 
national  banks. 

12.  Means  52  Cents  on  a  Dollar.— In  view  of  these 
facts,  which  cannot  be  successfully  disputed,  I  submit  that 
you  ought  seriously  to  consider  all  the  consequences  to 
yourselves  and  your  fellow-citizens  before  you  agree  to  the 
free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  legal  tender  silver  at  a  ratio 
of  16  to  1,  in  order  that  these  great  corporations  and  associa- 
tions may  have  the  privilege  of  discharging  their  debts  to 
the  people  by  paying  51  to  52  cents  on  the  dollar,  for  that 
is  exactly  what  it  means. 

13.  Utter  Ruin. — But  if  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of 
legal  tender  silver  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  1  is  established  in 
this  country  a  very  large  part  of  the  money  deposited  in 
these  various  kinds  of  savings  institutions  will  not  be  repaid 
in  depreciated  silver,  but  will  be  wholly  lost,  because  such 
a  reckless  monetary  system  would  precipitate  a  financial 
panic,  which  very  few,  if  any,  of  the  depositories  could  sur- 
vive. 

14.  Not  Possible  in  America. — It  cannot  be  possible 
that  in  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  in 
this  great  and  free  republic,  the  people  themselves,  will 
imitate  the  bad  examples  set  by  the  corrupt  potentates  of 
Europe,  who  have  made  their  names  forever  odious  in  his- 
tory by  debasing  the  money  of  their  subjects  and  robbing 
the  industrious  poor  of  the  just  rewards  of  their  labor. 


Free  Silver. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  a  speech  delivered  by 
Hon.  Henry  M.  Teller,  of  Colorado,  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  January  22,  1896. 

i.  Danger  Ahead. — I  do  not  suppose  there  has  ever 
been  a  time  in  our  history  when  the  productive  enterprises 
of  the  country  were  less  remumerative  than  at  this  hour. 


frREE  SILVER.  57& 

feut  this  has  been  our  condition  now  for  a  number  of  years. 
It  is  morally  certain  that  something  is  wrong;  it  is  morally 
certain  we  cannot  continue  in  this  condition  much  longer. 

2.  Lack  of  Confidence.— The  President  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  tell  us  that  the  en- 
tire difficulty  arises  from   the   lack  of  confidence   in   the 
money  of  the  country.      If  that  be  true,  then  it  behooves  us 
to  address  ourselves  without  delay  to  changing  this  condi- 
tion and  to  securing  a  proper  financial  system.      I  do  not 
myself,  agree  that  the  trouble  which  has  arisen  in  this  coun- 
try has  grown  out  of  the  distrust  of  the  currency.      I  deny 
that  there  is  any  thing  which  indicates  that  the  people  of 
the  United  States  distrust  the  money  in  circulation;  and  the 
statement  so  made  is  opposed  to  the  entire  history  of  money. 

3.  No  Depreciating  Standard. — I  do  not  believe  in  de- 
preciating money.     I  believe  in  a  stable  money,  and   I  be- 
lieve that  money  is  the  best  which  maintains  a  uniform 
rate  of  prices.     But  if  I  am  to  take  the  two,  I  shall  be  in  ac- 
cord with  the  best  minds  of  the  people  when  I  say  that  a 
depreciating  standard  is  indefinitely  better  for  us  than  an 
appreciating  one.    An  appreciating  standard  means  a  par- 
alysis of  business,  a  cessation  of  enterprise,  a  distruction  of 
the  energies  of  the  country.       The  other  means  a  stimulus. 
So  of  the  two  it  is  much  better  that  there  should  be  a  de- 
preciation than  an  appreciation. 

4.  Mistakes. — Our    first    mistake  was    made    in  1873, 
when  we  deprived  ourselves  of  one  half  the  money  metal  of 
the  world.     The  next  great  mistake  was  when  the  Bland  bill 
came  into  the  Senate  from  the  House  of  Representatives  as 
a  free  coinage  measure,  with    then    a  divergency  of  only 
eight  per  cent  between  the  silver  and  the  gold  in  the  mar- 
kets of  the  world,  that  the  Senate  did  not  accept  the  House 
bill  and  give  the  world  the  benefit  of  free  coinage  in  the 
United  States.     If  you  had  done  that  there  would  be  no  sil- 
ver question  to  trouble  the  world.     If  you  had  done  that 
there  would  be  no   silver  question   to   trouble  you.     The 
United  States  would  have  taken  care  of  the  surplus  of  silver 
until  the  silver  of  the  world  temporarily  depre-sed  by  the 
action  of  Germany,  had   reached   its   proper  and  original 
mint  value. 

5.  Remedy  Needed. — I  am  not  insisting  now  that  there 
is  no  other  remedy  except  free  coinage,  although  I  do  not 
believe   there   is;  but    I   am   begging  my  associates  in  the 
Senate,  who  do  not  believe  in  free  coinage,  whether  they  be 
on  this  side  or  the  other,  to  present  the  American  people 
in  this  hour  of  their  distress  some  common  sense  system 
that  the  honest  people  of  the  country  will  believe  is  right; 
some  system  that  shall  prevent  this  government  from  run- 
ning into  debt. 


674 


THE  MONEY  QUESTION. 


6.  Debt  Means  Decay. — When  a  nation  runs  into  debt 
in  time  of  peace  it  either  argues  that  it  has  entered  upon  a 
decay,  that  it  is  deteriorating,  or  it  argues  that  the  adminis- 
tration of  public  affairs  is  in  the  hands  of  incompetent  men. 
A  national  debt  is  a  national  curse,  and  if  made  in  time  of 
peace,  it  is  a  national  disgrace,  one  that  ought  to  make 
every  American  blush.    A  national  debt  is  inevitable  if  you 
are  to  maintain  the  gold  standard. 

7.  Cost  of  Gold  Standard.— Our    gold    is    being     ex- 
ported to  Europe  and  will  continue  to  be  so  exported.     It 
will  go  in  spite  ot  us,  and  every  day  we  seem  to  be  putting 
ourselves  in  a  worse  position  than  heretofore.  If  we  attempt 
to  maintain  the  gold  standard  we  must  maintain  it  with  the 
knowledge  of  what  it  is  going  to  cost.     I  want  the  American 
people  to  know  what  it  is  going  to  cost.     I  do  not  believe  the 
American  people  understand  the  danger  which  threatens 
not  only  their  industrial   pursuits,  but  the  very  existence 
of  this  nation  as  a  free  people  by  the  gold  standard. 


LISTENING  TO  HORR  AND  HARVEY. 

The  above  represents  a  farmer  who  has  come  a  great 
distance  to  Chicago  to  hear  the  Horr  and  Harvey  debates. 
Do  you  see  with  what  avidity  he  takes  in  the  arguments? 


THE  MONEY  QUESTION, 


576 


ARGUMENTS  ON  BOTH  SIDES  OF 
THE  MONEY  QUESTION. 

The  Gold  Side. 


"BIMETALLIC"  EXERCISE, 
Makes  Monometallism  Every  Time. 

i.  Bimetallism  Impossible.  —  No  economist  of  any 
reputation  either  in  this  country  or  in  Europe,  advocates 
the  free  coinage  of  silver  at  16  to  1,  or  any  other  ratio,  by 
any  one  nation.  There  are  well-known  bimetallists  in 
England,  France  and  Germany,  but  not  one  of  them  advises 
England  or  France  or  Germany  alone  to  adopt  the  free 
coinage  of  silver  at  any  ratio.  Nor  do  any  economists  of 
repute  in  this  country  advise  the  United  States  to  this  step. 
It  is  perfectly  well  understood  by  all  economists,  whether 
favoring  a  single  or  a  double  standard,  that  the  adoption  of 
free  coinage  by  this  country  alone  and  without  interna- 
tional agreement,  would  not  give  us  a  double  standard,  but 
a  single  standard  of  silver. 


576 


THE   MONEY  QUESTION. 


A  DANGEROUS  EXPERIMENT 


2.  Good  Intentions. — This  man  may  have  good  inten- 
tions.    H^s  intentions  may  not  be  clear  to  all,  but  no  one 
need  be  in  doubt  as  to  results.    The  silver  men  no  .doubt 
mean  well,  and  the  bulk  of  them  have  the  idea  that  what 
they  are  after  they  will  get  and  the  people  will  be  bene- 
fitted.    But  the  common  sense  of  the  American  people  will 
declare    itself  at   the  polls   against  any  such  dangerous 
experiment. 

The  Silver  Side. 

3.  Tariff  not  Responsible. — Many  claim  that  the  threat 
to  reduce  or  abolish  the  tariff  is   the   chief  cause  of  hard 
times.    These  would  shut  out    the  money  question    and 
make  protection  the  issue.    The  present  industrial  demor- 
alization cannot  be  accounted  by  tariff,  pro  or  con.  Declines 
in  values  have  been  going  on  since  the  demonetization  of 
silver.    Tariff  changes  will  not  stop  this. 


THE   MONEY   QUESTION.  577 

4.  Demonetization  Responsible. — The  demonetization 
of  silver  destroyed  one-half  of  the  redemption  money  of 
the  United  States.   By  making  gold  the  unit  and  closing  the 
mints  to  silver,  it  lessened   the  demand  for  silver,  and  its 
commercial  value  at  once  began  to  depreciate,  as  measured 
in  gold. 

We  are  a  gieat  debtor  nation,  paying  England  200 
million  dollars  annually  in  gold  in  the  payment  of  interest 
on  our  bonds,  national  and  private,  owned  by  her  people, 
and  to  meet  this  annual  interest  we  are  giving  up  about  400 
millions  in  property  that  is  required  in  the  market  to 
secure  the  200  millions  in  gold. 

5.  The  Silver  Dollar. — Silver  is  now  worth  about  60 
cents  an  ounce.    The  silver  bullion  in  a  dollar  is  worth 
about  54  cents.     Free  silver  coinage  would  raise  the  price 
of  silver  to  129  cents  an  ounce,  and  the  silver  in  an  Amer- 
ican dollar  would  be  worth  one  dollar   in  gold  the  world 
over  even  without  a  government  stamp  on  it. 

6.  No  Market  for  Money. — Usually  a  large  part  of  the 
money  of  the  country  is  in  a  certain  sense  hoarded  in  New 
York   and   other  great  cities,  because   the  owners  cannot 
profitably  invest  it  in  productive  industries     The  prices  of 
the  products  of  toil  have  fallen.     The  farmers  of  America 
cannot  get  as  much  for  their  crops  or  their  stock  as  they 
should. 

7.  The  Remedy.  —  The  remedy  is  free  silver.    With 
abundance  of  money  prices  will  rise;  capital  will  seek  in- 
vestment in  the  soil  and  in  factories;  every  man  who  wants 
to  work  will  be  employed,  and  in  the  competition  between 
employers  for  employes  wages  will  rise. 

8.  Double  Foreign  Market. — The  effect  of  an  inflow 
of  silver  from  abroad  would  be  to  double  the  foreign  market 
for  our  goods,  and  give   us  such  a  period  of  prosperity  as 
we    have    never    known    before.     The   whole    productive 
energy  of  the  nation  would  be  employed.     Wages  would  in- 
crease.    The  only  refuge  for  Europe  would  be  bimetallism. 

9  Failure  of  Gold  Standard. — The  gold  standard  can- 
not be  maintained  any  longer  except  at  the  cost  of  ultimate 
national  bankruptcy.  That  must  be  plain  to  every  thought- 
ful man  who  has  observed  the  course  of  events  in  this 
country  since  Mr  Sherman  stealthily  fastened  the  gold 
standard  system  upon  our  government  in  1873. 

Both  Sides  Discussed. 

10.  The  Silverman. — The  Silverman  ope:is  the  discus- 
sion by  urging  that  the  country  needs  more  money  than  it 
has  in  circulation;  that  low  prices  of  farm  products  and 


578  THE   MONEY   QUESTION. 

hard  times  for  farmers  result  from  a  limited  supply  of 
money;  that  gold  is  harder  to  get  and  debts  harder  to  pay 
because  the  use  of  silver  as  money  is  restricted. 

II  The  Anti-Silverman's  Argument. — Here  the  Anti- 
Silverman  replies  that  all  the  American  product  of  silver  is 
utilized  as  money  under  the  present  law;  and  that  free  coin- 
age, while  not  greatly  increasing  '-he  amount  of  money  in 


Boy  in  the  closet:  "  I'll  be  blowed  if  I'll  stay  in  here." 
TARIFF  NOT  THE  ISSUE. 

circulation,  would  result  in  one  of  two  things;  it  would 
either  give  the  owners  of  the  mines  the  profit  on  the  making 
of  money  based  on  silver,  which  now  goes  into  the  Treasury 
or  it  would  make  silver  the  sole  standard  of  money,  cause 
gold  to  rise  to  a  premium,  and  derange  the  whole  currency 
system. 

12.     The  Silverman's  Reply,  —  The  Silverman  rejoins 
that  those  who  were  injured  by  the  demonetization  of  1873 


THE   MONEY   QUESTION. 


679 


have  a  right  to  demand  that  the  wrong  then  done  be  righted, 
even  though  the  effect  were  to  drive  gold  to  a  premium  and 
out  of  use  as  money. 

At  the  same  time  he  disputes  the  theory  that  free  coin- 
age would  cause  a  premium  on  gold.  The  law  determines 
what  is  a  dollar,  and  though  as  bullion  the  silver  dollar  is 
worth  but  53  cents  in  gold,  it  still  buys  as  much  as  a  gold 
dollar  will  buy,  because  the  law  makes  it  a  dollar 


AN  HONEST  MAN'S  DILEMMA, 
"How  can  I  use  both?" 


13.  Against  Free  Silver. — Then  the  Anti-Silver  debater 
retorts  that  gold  and  silver  are  at  par,  because  the  govern- 
ment exchanges  one  dollar  for  another;  that  under  free 
coinage  it  could  not  obtain  gold  enough  to  do  this;  that  all 
the  foreign  trade  is  conducted  on  a  gold  basis,  and  since 
gold  is  alone  available  for  this  purpose  it  will  be  held  at  a 
premium  as  soon  as  the  Treasury  fails  to  give  a  gold  dollar 
for  a  silver  one. 

14.  The  Great  Question . — After  all,  the  question  may 
be  brought  within  very  narrow  limits.    Would  free  coinage 


580 


HARD    TIMES.  581 

make  the  value  of  the  two  dollars  different?  The  silver- 
men  say  no;  and  some,  though  not  all  of  them,  add  that  if 
they  thought  it  would  result  in  that  way  they  would  still 
favor  the  measure.  Anti-silvermen  say  yes;  and  the  most 
of  them  would  add  that  if  they  could  persuade  themselves 
that  free  coinage  would  not  cause  a  premium  on  gold  they 
would  cease  to  oppose  it. 

15.  Must  Soon  be  Settled. — In  the  near  future  this  prob- 
lem of  silver  coinage  must  be  settled.  The  country  is 
standing  on  tiptoe  awaiting  political  action. 


Hard  Times. 

Hard  times  are  a  condition  which  every  one  can  appre- 
ciate, even  if  he  is  not  able  to  give  their  causes.  The  aver- 
age ma.n  scratches  around  for  a  living  for  himself  and  family, 
and  if  the  hard  times  pinch  him,  he  only  scratches  the  harder, 
while  he  lets  the  financial  doctors  settle  the  causes  and  the 
cure  among  themselves.  But  when  financial  doctors  do  not 
agree,  then  the  ordinary  man  may  be  quite  at  a  loss  in 
attempting  to  make  a  decision.  The  following  opinions 
of  leaders  in  their  sphere,  taken  from  the  New  York  Voice, 
are  certainly  very  interesting,  and  to  say  the  least  widely 
differing,  coming,  as  they  do,  from  those  representing  differ- 
ent political  parties  and  different  spheres  of  action.  Study 
these  causes  carefully,  and  then  decide  for  yourself  why 
times  are  hard.  These  are  replies  to  the  question,  i4  What 
are  the  Chief  Causes  of  Hard  Times?" 

Andrew  Carnegie. — 1.  Natural  reaction  from  excessiv- 
development  of  our  material  resources  between  1^80  and  1890 

2.  Almost  equally  potent  —  the   agitation  for   lowering 
the  standard  of  value. 

3.  Unwise  proposals   of   revolutionary  changes   in   the 
tariff. 

Any  one  of  these  suffices;  any  two  of  them  combined 
will  bring  disaster  upon  the  most  prosperous  country, 
or  most  favorable  conditions,  that  ever  existed. 

Washington  Gladden.— 1.   Extravagance. 

2.  Extension  of  credit. 

3.  Running  in  debt. 

These  three  are  one  When  the  whole  community,  rich 
and  poor,  persistently  runs  into  debt  as  deep  as  it  can  go, 
a  day  of  reckoning  must  come.  Tariffs  and  currency  troubles 
complicate  matters,  but  the  bottom  difficulty  is  a  reckless 
habit  of  consuming  the  income  before  it  is  earned. 
38 


5S2  HARD   TIMES. 

Ballington  Booth. — One  cause,  to  my  mind,  which  brings 
hard  times  to  the  United  States,  is  the  lack  of  confidence 
on  the  part  of  the  general  public  in: 

1.  The  disposition  of  public  men  to  deal  with  financial 
problems. 

2.  Their  capacity  or  ability  so  to  do.     The  withdrawal 
of  large  sums  of  money  from  the  banks  in  favor  of  safety 
deposit  vaults,  causing  in  many  cases  said  bank's  suspension 
and  general  panic,  and  consequent  tying    up    of    money 
banks.     Men  in  general  wait  to  see  what  their  neighbor 
does ;  and  as  he  did  nothing,  they  do  the  same,  and  as  a 
consequence  the  golden  stream  ceased  to  flow  through  the 
arteries  of  trade  and  commerce. 

In  general,  we  Salvationists,  with  many  others,  believe 
that  times  would  be  much  easier  if  the  tremendous  sums 
of  money  expended  regularly  in  liquor,  the  theater,  race- 
course, card  table,  etc. ,  were  turned  into  less  selfish  and 
more  honorable  channels.  Not  in  charity  particularly,  but 
in  reforming  and  gospelizing  the  masses,  and  in  teaching 
them  the  methods  of  saving  both  soul  and  body,  which,  in 
our  humble  opinion,  is  the  only  kind  of  charity  that  is 
worth  consideration. 

John Swinton  Thinks  the  Masses  are  Shorten  Brains. — 
It  seems  to  me  that  three  of  the  chief  causes  of  bad  times 
are: 

1.  The  blighting  influence  of  the  new  millionairism. 

2.  The  shortage  of  brain  and  pluck  among  the  masses. 
3. '  The  extension  of  immorality  in  all  branches  of  the 

government,  and  in  political  parties. 
Judge  Albion  Tourgee. — 

1.  Overproduction. 

2.  Uncertainty  in  the  private  mind  as  to  the  stability 
and  operation  of  the  tariff. 

3.  Great  financial  caution,  engendered  by  the  reckless 
talk  of  change  and  agitation  by  public  leaders. 

Senator  Peffer.— 

1.  Private  monopoly  of  the  great  and  essential  means 
and  agencies  of  subsistence  and  comfort;  as  of  land,  fuel, 
food,  commerce,  transportation,  money,  etc. 

2.  Displacement  of  labor  by  use  of  machinery. 

3.  Unequal  competition  resulting  from  combinations  of 
men  and  means — the  strong  crowding  out  the  weak. 

Susan  B.  Anthony. — The  trouble  with  women  is  that, 
whether  we  have  hard  times  or  good  times,  they  never  get 
their  just  share  of  the  much  or  the  little  of  the  good,  and 
the  work  of  my  life  has  not  been  so  much  the  causes  of 
men's  failure  to  successfully  manage  their  business  affairs, 


HARD  TIMES.  683 

as  to  try  to  show  them  their  failure  in  attempting  to  make 
a  successful  government  without  the  help  of  the  women  of 
the  nation.  There  is  money  enough  in  this  country  to- 
day in  the  hands  of  the  few,  if  justly  distributed  among  the 
hard-working,  honest,  and  sober  men  and  women,  to  make 
"Good  Times"  for  every  one. 

Editor  Schilling  of  "The  Milwaukee  Advance." — The 
attempt  of  the  money  kings  of  the  East  to  force  total  de- 
monetization of  silver  by  curtailing  and  calling  in  of  loans, 
and  curtailing  bank  credits.  In  case  of  a  panic,  when  '  'con- 
fidence is  lost,"  cash  is  required  and  credit  is  contracted  at 
a  fearful  rate,  probably  one-half,  and  this  contraction  works 
on  the  same  plan  as  bleeding  a  person  that  is  suffering  from 
the  want  of  blood. 

Samuel  Dickie. — 

1.  Credit   inflation   reaches  and   passes  the  point  of 
danger. 

2.  A  defeated  party  filling  the  newspapers  with  prophe- 
cies of  financial  disaster. 

3.  The  possibility  of  debasing   our  currency  by  free 
silver  legislation,  creating  a  tendency  to  forced  liquida- 
tion. 

William  M.  Stewart,  Editor  of  "The  Silver  Knight."— 
1.     Contraction  of  the  volume  of   money  of  ultimate 

payment,   which  produce  falling  prices,  stagnation,  and 

maybe  hard  times. 
John  P.  St.  John.— 

1.  The  demonetization  of  silver  and  the  dictation  of 
our  financial  policy  by  Wall  Street. 

2.  The  perpetuation  of  the  saloons,  which  are  hot-beds 
of  everything  that  is  bad. 

3.  Legislation  which  enables  a  favored  few  to  absorb 
the  wealth  of  the  country  as  fast  as  the  people  produce  it. 

Perhaps  the  chief  reason  for  the  hard  times,  from  1893 
to  1896,  was  the  reaction  from  a  period  of  overspeculation 
in  country  and  town.  We  had  a  decade  devoted  to  one 
vast  confidence  game.  From  Duluth  to  the  Pacific  coast, 
fictitious  values  were  put  upon  everything  in  the  way  of 
real  property. 

In  other  parts  of  the  country  there  was  a  similar  experi- 
ence. Farmers  sold  out  their  eastern  homes  to  settle  on 
the  tough,  wire-grass  sod  lhat  had  never  known  the  plow. 
They  built  barns,  and  houses,  and  fences  that  have  gone  to 
ruin,  and  paid  for  labor  from  which  there  was  no  return. 
Such  crops  as  they  had  were  a  mockery,  and  mortgage 
followed  upon  mortgage,  as  the  seasons  came  and  went. 


584 


GOOD   TIMES.  585 

Good  Times. 

We  all  understand  in  a  general  way  what  is  meant  by 
"good  times."  But  good  times  never  come  to  all  people; 
neither  do  bad  times  affect  other  large  classes.  Only  a 
small  part  ride  either  on  the  crest  of  prosperity  or  in  the 
trough  of  adversity.  Good  and  bad  times  are  but  the  ebb 
and  flow  of  the  commercial  tide.  At  times  there  are  the 
mighty  ground-swells  of  prosperity,  and  again  a  corre- 
spending  recession  to  adversity.  But  the  grand  old  ocean 
always  seeks  its  level. 

.  Agriculture,  manufacturing,  commercial  activity,  and  in 
fact  any  and  all  forms  of  producing  and  exchanging  values, 
we  may  place  under  the  general  head  of  business.  Busi- 
ness in  this  broader  sense  rests  on  four  corner  stones: 
1,  The  intellectual  activity,  business  capacity,  ingenuity, 
and  the  life  energy  of  the  people;  2,  The  medium  of  ex- 
change, or  money ;  3,  Credit;  4,  A  desire  and  ability  of  the 
people  to  exchange  values. 

The  first,  which  varies  greatly  as  between  nations,  is 
practically  a  constant  factor  so  far  as  it  relates  to  any  one 
people.  We  may,  therefore,  for  our  present  purpose, 
ignore  the  first.  The  three  great  factors,  then,  that  make 
for  "good  times"  are  money,  credit,  and  the  ability  of  the 
people  to  exchange  values. 

Conditions  which  lead  money  and  credit  to  do  their  per- 
fect work,  will,  ordinarily,  bring  good  times.  If  either,  or 
both,  be  disturbed,  the  business  world  is  shaken. 

Money;  Its  Value. — Money  has  two  functions,  and  it 
must  perform  both  successfully,  or  disaster  will  follow. 
All  whose  mind  runs  back  to  the  Civil  War  days  will  re- 
member how  unstable  was  the  greenback  dollar,  and  how 
correspondingly  unstable  were  war-time  prices. 

Money  should  measure  values  correctly  and  uniformly, 
or  injustice  and  disaster  follow.  While  cheap  money  is 
growing  more  cheap  we  have  "booming"  times;  but  the 
fr.tal  collapse  will  positively  come  when  the  medium  of  ex- 
change takes  its  upward  flight.  So  long  as  the  measure  of 
values  continues  to  rise,  so  long  wrlfl  business  remain  de- 
pressed. When  the  measure  becomes  stable,  or  fixed,  then 
comes  prosperity,  provided  other  conditions  are  favorable. 

Money;  Its  Quantity.— Money  is  the  life-blood  of  busi- 
ness. Its  quality  should  be  as  perfect  and  as  stable  as 
human  ingenuity  can  make  it;  fts  quantity  should  be  suffi- 
cient to  make  all  exchange  of  values  in  business  easy,  and 
with  an  equal  and  uniform  circulation ;  congestion  in  the 
great  money  centers  is  dangerous. 


GOOD  TIMES. 

Credit. — Confidence  is  the  foundation  of  credit.  Any 
condition  which  leads  to  a  want  of  confidence  is  fatal  to 
credit.  The  greater  part  of  all  business  is  built  on  credit. 
Were  it  not  for  credit,  the  wheels  of  commerce  would  stop. 
When  credit  begins  to  fail,  business  is  checked,  sales  fall 
off,  factories  and  machine  shops  close  or  run  on  short  time ; 
less  demand  for  products,  lower  prices;  wages  fall,  and 
workmen  are  thrown  out  of  employment. 

A,  B,  C,  and  D  by  chance  meet.  A  remembers  that  he 
owes  B  one  dollar.  He  hands  him  the  dollar,  which,  in 
turn,  B  pays  to  C,  whom  he  owes.  C  in  turn  pays  A  the 
dollar,  which  he  owes  him.  Each  man  has  met  his  obliga- 
tion. This  shows  the  circle  of  trade  in  miniature.  A's- 
failure  to  meet  his  obligation  would  have  clogged  the  cir- 
cuit of  payments.  Conditions  that  permit  a  free  and  ready 
circulation  of  values  are  favorable  to  good  times. 

A  Desire  and  Ability  to  Exchange  Values. — A  desire, 
with  the  ability,  to  exchange  labor  for  products,  products 
for  labor,  labor  for  labor,  and  products  for  products,  is  the 
motive  power  that  drives  the  machinery  of  trade.  Lessen 
the  desire  and  ability  to  exchange  values,  and  business  is 
depressed. 

It  is  sometimes  claimed  that  economy  is  the  source  of 
prosperity.  The  claim  is,  perhaps,  correct  when  used  in  a 
restricted  sense.  But  extreme  economy  leads  to  stagnation. 
The  United  States,  with  her  75,000,000  people,  is  a  better 
market  than  all  of  China  with  her  400,000, 000,  or  India  with 
her  300,000,000.  These  half-starved  people  are  compelled 
to  practice  extreme  economy.  They  cannot  purchase,  so 
the  merchants  and  manufacturers  cannot  sell,  and  trade  is 
limited.  Conditions  which  depress  the  laborer  to  starva- 
tion wages,  react  on  the  employers  of  labor.  Conditions 
which  lead  the  people  to  waste  their  earnings  on  valueless 
things,  deprive  themselves  of  the  ability  to  purchase  things 
that  are  of  value.  India  exports  wheat,  when  in  fact  she 
raises  but  a  small  fraction  of  what  her  people  need,  were 
they  properly  fed.  They  must  live  on  a  cheaper  food,  and 
sell  their  wheat  to  better  fed  Europeans. 

The  other  extreme  is  to  live  beyond  one's  means,  to  run 
in  debt,  to  waste.  But  "a  nimble  shilling  is  better  than  a 
slow  pound."  A  citizen  who  spends  in  legitimate  business 
ten  dollars,  is  of  more  value,  financially,  to  a  community 
than  one  who  spends  but  one  dollar. 

An  Analysis  of  Causes. — Returning  to  the  reasons  given 
for  hard  times,  as  noted  in  the  preceding  pages,  let  us 
analyze  them.  "Agitation  for  changing  the  standard  of 
value,"  "Changes  in  the  tariff,"  "Lack  of  confidence," 


GOOD  TIMES.  687 

"Disposition  and  ability  of  public  men  to  deal  with  finan- 
cial problems,"  "Uncertainty  as  to  the  stability  and 
operation  of  the  tariff, "  "Reckless  talk  of  change  and  agita- 
tion by  public  leaders,"  "Filling  the  newspapers  with 
prophecies  of  financial  distress,"  "Loss  of  confidence  among 
the  American  people  in  the  soundness  of  their  currency." 

It  will  be  noted  that  all  the  reasons  above  given  point 
directly  to  fear,  to  a  want  of  confidence,  in  the  minds  of 
the  people.  These  are  the  forebodings  of  a  coming  panic. 

Here  are  other  reasons  given  for  hard  times :  ' '  Extrava- 
gance," "Extension  of  credit,"  "Running  in  debt,"  "Credit 
inflation  passes  the  point  of  danger,"  "Natural  reaction 
from  excessive  development  of  natural  resources."  These 
would  naturally  lead  to  the  impairment  of  credit. 

Again  we  quote:  "Demonetization  of  silver  by  curtail- 
ing and  calling  in  loans  and  curtailing  bank  credits,"  "The 
possibility  of  debasing  our  currency,"  "Contraction  of  vol 
ume  of  money  of  ultimate  payment,"  "Loss  of  confidence 
in  the  soundness  of  the  currency,"  "Demonetization  of 
silver  and  the  dictating  of  our  financial  policy  by  Wall 
Street." 

It  will  be  noted  that  these  refer  hard  times  to  the  ques 
tion  of  money. 

Judge  Tourgee  suggests  "overproduction"  as  one  of  the 
causes  of  hard  times.  Ballington  Booth  and  John  P.  St, 
John  name  "the  perpetuation  of  the  saloon"  as  one  of  the 
causes  of  hard  times.  Is  it  overproduction,  as  suggested 
by  Judge  Tourgee,  or  underconsumption,  as  implied  by 
Booth  and  St.  John?  Overproduction  is  possible  only  when 
the  ability  to  purchase  falls  below  the  value  of  things  pro- 
duced. 

If  all  feet  were  properly  protected  with  shoes,  if  all 
bodies  were  warmly  covered  with  proper  clothing,  if  all 
hunger  were  properly  appeased,  if  all  people  were  warmly 
housed,  would  overproduction  be  possible?  If  the  dread- 
ful waste  through  the  saloon  could  be  stopped,  and  the 
wasted  money  and  time  be  turned  into  productive  chan- 
nels, could  there  be  an  oversupply? 


CHAPTER   X. 

INTERNATIONAL   AND    FOREIGN 
AFFAIRS. 

The   "  Monroe   Doctrine." 

1.  Explanation. — The  Monroe  doctrine  relates  to  the 
interference  of  foreign,  or  European   countries,  with  the 
affairs  of  the  American  continent.     It  was  announced  by 
President   Monroe,    in    his    annual    message    to    Congress 
of  December  2,  1823.     It  is  expressed  in  two  paragraphs 
of   that   message,  which  were    distinct  from    each   other, 
and  were  separated  by  other  matter.    The  two  paragraphs 
referred  to  different  events. 

2.  The  Occasion  for  the  Expression  of  the  First  Para- 
graph.— One  of  these  paragraphs  asserted  that  the  Ameri- 
can continents,  "  by  the   free  and   independent  condition 
which   they  have  assumed   and   maintain,  are   henceforth 
not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for  future  colonization  by 
any  European  powers."     The  occasion  for  the  expression 
of  this  view  was  that  Russia  had  made  a  claim  to  a  large 
part  of  the  coast  line  upon  the  western  shore  of  the  North 
American  continent.     This   passage  was  written  by  John 
Quincy  Adams,  the  Secretary  of  State,,  and  was  inserted 
by  Mr.  Monroe  in  the  message. 

3.  The  Occasion  of  the  Other  Paragraph.— The  occa- 
sion of  the  other  paragraph  qf  the  message  was  as  follows: 
The  Holy  Alliance  —  the  name  given  to  the  alliance  formed 
by   the   emperors   of    Russia    and   Austria  and   the   King 
of   Prussia  —  was   a   very   powerful  combination,   profess- 
edly in  the  interest  of  the  Christian  religion,  but  really 
in  the  interest  of  absolute  power. 

4.  Danger  to  Our  Peace  and  Safety.  —  In  the  midst 
of  a  passage  of  some  length,  Mr.  Monroe  said  that  we 
owed  it  to  the  friendly  relations  existing  between  the  United 
States  and  the  European  powers  to  declare  that  we  should 
consider  any  attempt  on  their  part  to  extend  their  system 
to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace 
and  safety,  and  that  we  could  not  view  any  attempt,  by  any 
European  power,  to  oppress  the  Spanish-American  countries, 
which  had  become  independent,  "  in  any  other  light  than 
as  a  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward  the 
United  States." 

588 


INTERNATIONAL   ARBITRATION.  589 

5.  The  Policy  of  Congress. — The  Monroe  doctrine,  thus 
announced,  became  the  settled  policy  of  Congress  and  of  the 
successive  administrations,  and   has  be®n  repeatedly  ap- 
proved by  national  conventions  of  the  great  parties.     It  has 
been  extended,  with  more  or  less  logical  consistency,  in  more 
than  one  direction. 

6.  Wrong  Views. — Some  people  understand  that  the 
United  States  has  taken  a  position  which  implies  a  general 
oversight  of  the  affairs  of  all  American   republics.     More- 
over, according  to  one  view,  the  Monroe  doctrine  gives  us 
rights  and  obligations  not  only  toward  the  adjacent  islands 
of  the  West  Indies, but  toward  Hawaii;  but  these  are  errors. 

7.  Enforcing  It. — The  doctrine  in  its  original  form  no 
longer  requires   a  threat  on  our  part    to  enforce  it,   for  the 
United  States  has  become  so  great  that  no  foreign  power 
would  think  of  violating  either  of  its   principles  we  have 
quoted. 


International  Arbitration. 

1.  Discussed. — International  arbitration  has  been  dis- 
cussed for  many  years.     Nothing   practical  has,   however, 
resulted  from  these  discussions.    The  Venezuela  dispute, 
the  message  of  the  President  of  the  United  'States,  and  the 
action  of  Congress  has  brought  this   question  prominently 
before  the  American  people  as  never  before. 

2.  Our  National  Record. — Our  nation  has  always  advo- 
cated  the    rights  of  neutrals,   arbitration,  and  the   peace- 
ful settlement  of  international  disputes.     It  has  contributed 
more  than  any  other  nation  to  the  promotion  of  peace  and 
the  avoidance  of  great  armaments.     The  United  States  and 
Canada  have   set  an  example  to  the  world  by  dispensing 
with  a  standing  army  and  sustaining  nothing  but  a  small 
marine  police  force  on  the  great  lakes.     It  is  our  glory  to 
be  safe  without  fortresses,  fleets,  or  armies. 

3.  Arbitration  Conference. — While  the  risk  of  war  with 
Great  Britain  was  still  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  an   Arbi- 
tration Conference  was  called  at  Washington  in  April,  1896. 
It  was 'generally  conceded  that  the  moment  was  opportune 
to  set  forth  in  the  daily  and  periodical  press   that  the  true 
American  doctrine  on  international  relations  is  not  force  of 
arms  but  force  of   righteousness;   that   the  mission   of  this 
nation  is  to  teach  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  self   govern- 
ment by  taking  millions  from  various   lands  into  our  own 
land  and  here  give  them  experience  of  the  advantages  of 
freedom. 

38 


590 


THE  VENEZUELA  DISPUTE. 


The  Venezuela  Dispute, 


1.  Essequibo  River. 

2.  Purnaron  River. 

3.  Moroco  River. 

4.  Barima  River. 

5.  Amakura  River. 

6.  Schomburgk  Line. 

7.  Boundary  claimed  by  Great 

Britain. 


8.  Yuruari  River. 

9.  Gold  Mines. 

10.  Cnyuni  River. 

11.  Orinoco  River. 

12.  Mouth  of  Essiquibo. 

A.  British  Guiana. 

B.  Venezuela. 

C.  Atlantic  Ocean. 


1.  Governments  of  South   America. — America   is   the 
home  of  republics.    The  last  monarchy  ceased  to  exist  when 
Brazil  became  a  republic  in  1889.     There  are  nine  republics 
in    North  America  and  ten  in   South  America.     Some  of 
these  are  weak  and  are  frequently  disturbed  by  revolutions. 
Besides  these  ten  republics  in  South  America  there  are  three 
European   colonies   lying  between  the    Amazon  and    the 
Orinoco  rivers  known  as  the  Guianas,  French   Guiana  on 
the  east,  Dutch  in  the  center,  and  British  on  the  west. 

2.  The  Disputed   Line. — In  1810  a  considerable  por- 
tion  of  the  territory  between  the  Orinoco  and  the  Amazon 
rivers  became  a  part  of  Venezuela  as  successor  of  Spain. 
Four  years  later  Holland  ceded  another  part  of  this  terri- 
tory to  Great  Britain.     The  boundary  line  between  British 
Guiana  and  Venezuela  was  never  established  by  treaty. 
The  dispute  is  as  to  this  boundary  line.    Venezuela  claimed 
that  the  ancient  boundary  line  between  Holland  and  Spain, 
which  she  holds  was  the  Essequibo  river  (1),  and  south  to 
Brazil,  should  be  the  boundary  between  her  and   British 
Guiana.     Her  consistency  lies  in  this  that  she  has  never 
varied  from  holding  to  this  one  line  as  the  boundary;  while 
on  the  other  hand  the  British  first  claimed  the  Pumaron  (2) 
as  the  ancient  boundary,  but  afterward  extended  her  claim 


THE  VENEZUELA   DISPUTE.  591 

first  to  Moroco  (3),  then  to  Barima  (4),  then  to  Amakura  (5),- 
then  to  the  Orinoco  delta,  until  now  she  claims  as  the 
boundary  a  line  drawn  along  the  summit  of  the  hills  separat- 
ing the  watersheds  of  the  Orinoco  and  the  Essequibo,  thus 
carrying  the  British  limits  up  to  the  sources  of  the  Cuyuni 
(10)  and  Yurari  (8)  rivers. 

3.  The    Territory    in    Dispute. — This    includes    the 
Yuruari    valley  in  which  gold  mines  (9)  of  great  richness 
have  recently  been  discovered.    The  possession  of  these 
gold  mines  would  greatly  aid  the  British  in  controlling  the 
commerce  of  the  Orinoco,  and  correspondingly  affect  the 
commercial  and  political  relations  of  Venezuela,  Colombia, 
and  Brazil. 

4.  Occupancy. — Great    Britain    made    no    attempt    to 
occupy  any  portion  of  her  claimed  territory  west  of  the 
Pumaron  (2)  until  1840,  when  she  sent  a  commissioner,  who, 
without  the  consent  of  Venezuela  ran  a  boundary  line,  taking 
from  Venezuela  an  area  equal  to  the  state  of  New  York. 

5.  The  Schomburgk  Line. — This  line  is  known  as  the 
Schomburgk  Line  (6).     The  British  now  refer  to  this  line  as 
marking  the  limits  between  what  is  without  question  British 
territory  and  what  may  be  considered  territory  in  dispute. 
In  later  years  Lord  Aberdeen  disclaimed  the  Schomburgk 
Line  and  ordered  the  colonial  authorities  to  obliterate  the 
line  and  to  destroy  the  posts  and  marks  that  defined  it. 
Since  the  running  of  this  line  in  1840  several  British  admin- 
istrations have  admitted  that  it  has  no  validity  whatever. 

6.  Agreement  Entered  Upon. — In  1850  each  of    the 
parties  obligated  itself  to  the  other  not  to  occupy  any  of  the 
then  unoccupied  territory  in  dispute  until  some  definite 
settlement  of  the  question  of  boundary  could  be  reached. 
As  usual  in  such  cases  each  party  soon  accused  the  other  of 
bad  faith.     Venezuela    insisted    that    the  compact    was 
violated  by  British  encroachments  and  England  insisted 
that  Venezuela  had  violated  it  by  making  certain  mining 
concessions  to  a  syndicate  of  capitalists. 

7.  Arbitration  Urged  and  Refused. — Venezuela  all  these 
years  insisted  upon  a  reference  of  the  whole  question  of 
boundary  to  friendly  arbitration.    Great  Britain  as  persist- 
ently refused  to  submit  her  claim  to  arbitration.     In  the 
meantime  the  British  encroached  more  and  more  not  only 
upon  the  disputed  territory  but  constantly  pushed  westward 
the  line  of  demarkation  as  England  would  have  it. 

8.  Conditional  Arbitrations  Proposed  and  Refused. — 
At  several  different  times  England  did  propose  a  plan  of 
settlement  of  the  line,  but  always  accompanied  it  with  con- 
ditions which  Venezuela  could  not  possibly  accept.    On* 


592  THE  VENEZUELA  DISPUTE. 

condition  was  that  Venezuela  was  to  pledge  never  to  alien- 
ate any  part  of  her  territory  to  a  third  power,  another  was 
that  the  Orinoco  river  (11)  was  to  be  open  and  free  to  the 
navigation  of  British  vessels.  Venezuela  in  rejecting  these 
unjust  proposals  always  suggested  arbitration  but  Great 
Britain  would  never  assent  to  this. 

9.  Further  Encroachments. — Subsequently  the  British 
authorities  took  forcible  possession  of  the  whole  of  the  ter- 
ritory within  the  Schomburgk  Line  (6),  which  had  been  so 
explicitly  disclaimed  and  ordered  to  be  removed  by  Lord 
Aberdeen.    They  even  went  beyond  this  and  included  about 
seventy  square  miles  of  additional  territory,  so  as  to  have  a 
claim  upon  the  recently  discovered  gold  mines  (9),  the  rich- 
est on  the  continent. 

10.  Venezuela's   Demand  and  the  British  Refusal. — 
This  aroused  Venezuela  and  greatly  alarmed  her.    She  at 
once  demanded  that  the  agreement  of  1850  be  complied 
with  until  the  question  was  settled  by  impartial  arbitration. 
The  demand  was  not  complied  with  and  the  proposal  for 
arbitration  was  treated  with  haughty  indifference.     Ven- 
ezuela, being  too  weak  to  compel  England,  at  once  broke 
off  diplomatic  relations  with  her.     Since  then,  realizing  her 
inability  by  force  of  arms  to  hold  her  still  undisputed  terri- 
tory, much  less  to  regain  that  already  occupied  by  the  Brit- 
ish, Venezuela  has  persistently  endeavored  in  every  possi- 
ble way  to  have  the  whole  dispute  referred  to  friendly  and 
impartial  arbitration. 

11.  New  Conditions  by  the  British. — Great  Britain,  on 
the  other  hand,  insists  that  arbitration  shall  apply  only  to 
territory  outside  of  the  Schomburgk  line.     In  other  words, 
she  will  not  consent  to  arbitration  concerning  lands  west  of 
this    line  if    Venezuela  does  not  relinquish  all  claim  to 
territory  east  of  this  line. 

12.  A  Clear  Case. — From  present  knowledge  the  evi- 
dence points  overwhelmingly  toward  aggressions  on  the  part 
of  England  upon  territory  which  in  the  past  she  herself 
distinctly  recognized  as  Venezuelan.     It  would  seem  that  a 
clearer  case  of   absolutely  unwarranted   and  inexcusable 
appropriation  of  the  territory  of  a  weaker  power  than  these 
encroachments  of  the  British  upon  the  mainland  of  South 
America  can  probably  not  be  found  anywhere. 

;  j.  The  Monroe  Doctrine. — But  what  has  the  United 
Sta;  e :  to  do  with  this  matter?  Early  in  the  present  century 
South  America  was  threatened  with  invasion  by  certain 
European  powers.  James  Monroe,  President  of  the  United 
States,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  British,  incorporated  in  his 
message  to  Congress  a  passage  which  proclaims  against 


THE  VENEZUELA  DISPUTE,  593 

any  interference  of  European  powers  with  the  independent 
governments  of  America.  This  doctrine  has  been  held  by 
our  government  ever  since. 

14.  England's  Aspirations. — Since  this  doctrine  affects 
the  English  they  discard  the  Monroe  doctrine.    England 
very  well  knows  the  richness  of  the  gold  field  of  South 
America,  yielding  millions  annually.    A  party  of  English 
engineers,  has  recently,  "without  consent  or  Brazil,  engaged 
upon  a  reconnoissance  for  a  railroad  line  south  from  British 
Guiana  to  the  heart  of  the  rubber  territory  of  Brazil.     The 
commerce  of  this  entire  region  is  already  more  than  forty 
millions  annually.     English  capital  is  controlling  much  of 
it.    Where  once  England  has  placed  her  foot  she  regards 
the  soil  ever  after  as  pertaining  to  her  crown.    The  con- 
clusion seems  strong  that  if  the  acquisition  of  territory  by 
extensions  of  boundaries  should  not  be  checked  we  would 
ultimately  see  her  in  possession  of  the  heart  of  the  Amazon 
and  Orinoco  basins. 

15.  Our  Duty. — While  the  United  States  is  not  directly 
interested  in  this  dispute,  she  has  viewed  its  progress  with 
anxiety,  and  has  frequently  tried  to  effect  a  settlement  by 
arbitration.    In  1823  England  induced  Monroe  to  protest 
against  European  aggress:on3  in  America.    The  seventy- 
three  years  that  have  claps  ,d  have  changed  the  situation 
only  in  this,  the  encroachments  ~re  by  England  and  not  by 
Spain.    While  all  just  and  honorable  means  should  bemused 
to  settle  the  question,  yel  there  is  too  much  at  stake  to  per- 
mit the  forcible  extension  of  European  colonies  on  the  con- 
tinent.    To  many  it  teems  time  to  call  a  halt  to  the  process 
of  dismemberment  of    an  American  republic.    Our  com- 
merce, our  interests  in  o'her  American  nations,  our  very 
existence  is  threatened  if  European  countries  are  to  be  per- 
mitted   to    annex     at     will    the     territory ^   of    American 
nations.  The  tenability  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  must  sooner 
or  later  be   settled.    Our    honor,  our   plighted   faith,  our 
safety    demands    that  we  uphold   the  doctrine.  England 
respects  nothing  but  force.     The  lesson  of  Yorktown,  how- 
ever, has  taught  her  that  we  are  not  to  be  trifled  with.     She 
is  too  prudent  to  engage   in  war  with  the  United  States, 
unless  there  is  more  at  stake  than  a  strip  of  South  American 
territory. 

16.  Official  Correspondence. — Under  date  of  July  20, 
1895,  Secretary  Olney  addressed  a  communication  to  Mr. 
Bayard,  the  American  ambassador  in  England,  which  was 
transmitted  to  Lord  Salisbury  August  7,  fully  setting  forth 
the  attitude  of  the  United    States.    Arbitration  was   sug- 
gested as  the  only  reasonable  method  of  settling  the  dis- 
pute, and  a  definite  answer  was  asked  for  whether  the 


594  THE   VENEZUELA   DISPUTE. 

British  would  or  would  not  submit  to  impartial  arbitration 
of  the  whole  case. 

November  26,  1895,  Lord  Salisbury  replied,  lef using  to 
consent  to  arbitration,  except  as  already  proposed  by  Great 
Britain. 

17.  President    Cleveland's    Message. — Thereupon 
President  Cleveland  submitted  the  correspondence  and  a 
message  to  congress,   vigorously  defending  Mr.  Olney's 
position,  and  asked  for  authority  to  appoint  a  commission 
to  determine  the  merits  of  the  boundary  dispute  so  that  our 
government  may  be  able  to  decide  as  to  its  course  of  conduct 
in  the  case.    He  also  urged  that  the  United  States  "  resent  by 
every  means  in  its  power  "  to  prevent  Great  Britain  from 
appropriating  lands  belonging  to  an  American  republic. 

18.  Congress  Acts. — The  message  met  with  enthusias- 
tic approval,  and  Congress  at  once  authorized  the  Presi- 
dent to  appoint  such  commission,  and  appropriated  $100,000 
for  the  expenses. 

19.  Objections. — It  soon   became  evident  that  many 
statesmen,  financiers,  educators    and    clergymen   did  not 
assent  to  President   Cleveland's,  course  fearing  that  the 
spirit  of  *"  jingoism  "  might  be  fostered  thereby. 

20.  Desire  for  Peaceful  Settlement.-— While  there  was 
a  general  feeling  of  resistance  to  any  warlike  spirit,  or  any- 
thing that   savored  of  "jingoism,"  yet   the  gravity   of  the 
interests    involved    and     the    far-reaching     results   could 
hardly  have  been  over-estimated  had  England  persisted  in 
her  course  of  action. 

The  Boundary  Commission  was  necessarily  obliged  to 
make  exhaustive  and  laborious  research,  from  the  "blue 
books"  of  England,  the  historical  records  of  Holland  and 
even  the  archives  of  Rome  were  brought  to  light,  in  the 
history  of  the  early  mission  settlements,  in  order  to  trace 

*  Jingoism  is  of  British  origin  and  comes  from  a  London  music 
ball  song  which  had  the.  refrain : 

"  We  don't  want  to  fight, 

But,  by  jingo,  if  we  do, 
We've  got  the  ships,  we've  got  the  men, 
We've  got  the  money,  too." 

Jingoism  indicates  a  desire  to  maintain  the  honor  and  glory  of  one's 
country  at  any  cost,  by  fair  or  by  foul  means.  It  is  to  the  nation  what 
selfishness  is  to  the  individual,  that  sentiment  which  make's  one  desire 
to  get  wealth  or  honor  without  regard  to  others,  even  by  trampling 
upon  their  rights.  Jingoism  in  politics  thinks  more  about  the  glory 
than  the  duties  of  the  nation.  It  never  stops  to  ask  the  justice  of  a 
cause  but  the  interest  of  one's  country.  It  talks  more  and  makes  more 
noise  but  does  not  love  the  country  more  than  patriotism.  The  spirit 
of  -ungoism  is  unpopular  in  our  country.  Only  when  a  would-be  states- 
man hates  England  more  than  he  loves  America  are  utterances  given 
to  it.  We  are  more  in  danger  of  being  slow  to  do  our  full  duty 
to  our  citizens  and  to  show  sympathy  to  those  who  suffer  from  oppres- 
sion than  of  being  quick  to  provoke  war  for  uo  higher  purpose  than 
Dfttional  glory. 


THE   VENEZUELA   DISPUTE.  595 

the  matter  fully,  and  learn  the  rights  of  the  disputing 
parties. 

Before  they  had  reached  a  point  where  a  decision  could 
have  been  m.ide  Lord  Salisbury  had  announced  that  the 
matter  was  about  to  be  brought  to  a  happy  conclusion. 
The  voice  of  America,  through  her  highest  executive's 
timely  wisdom  and  fearless  courage,  had  brought  England 
to  see  the  matter  in  a  quite  different  light. 

21.  The  Treaty  Signed — A  treaty  directing  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  tribunal  composed  of  two  members  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  and  two  from  the  British 
Supreme  Court  with  a  fifth  juror  selected  by  them  was  then 
concluded.  Should  they  fail  to  agree  upon  this  fifth  mem- 
ber within  three  months  of  their  nomination  the  King  of 
Sweden  and  Norway  should  select  him. 

The  formalities  required  in  such  a  matter  being  duly 
arranged,  the  tribunal  selected,  and  the  fact  also  that 
Venezuela  had  sent  a  minister  to  Great  Britain,  once  more 
resuming  the  disturbed  diplomatic  relations,  all  combined 
to  end  the  active  interest  of  the  United  States  in  the  matter. 

The  results  of  the  Venezuela  dispute  as  reached  by  the 
tribunal  of  award,  and  approved  by  England  and  Vene- 
zuela, were  not  fully  satisfactory  to  either  party.  Neither 
fot  what  was  demanded.  Venezuela  has  reason  to  be  satis- 
ed  in  one  important  particular.  She  has  full  control  of 
the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco  River.  The  boundary  line  as 
made  by  the  arbitration  tribunal,  is  indicated  on  page  588 


596  CUBA   AND   ITS  INDEPENDENCE. 

Cuba  and  Its  Independence. 

1.  Discovery  and    Ownership. — Cuba',  the   finest  and 
largest  of  the  West  Indies,  was  discovered  by  Columbus 
October  28,  1492.     Since  .then  it  has  been  held  by  Spain. 
All  early  writers  describe  the  natives  as  amiable,  innocent, 
hospitable,    and    graceful.       Velasquez,    the    first    ruler, 
already  began  trampling  upon  the  natural  rights  of  the 
natives  and  butchering  those  who    resented    his    brutal 
dominion. 

2.  Extent. — Cuba  is  a  long,  narrow  island,  about  seven 
hundred  miles   in    extent    from  east  to   west,  and  has  a 
breadth  from  north  to  south  of  twenty-one  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles.     It  has  excellent  harbors,  which  are  well 
fortified. 

3.  Resources. — Nowhere  within  the  limits  of  western 
civilization  is  there  a  more  favorable  spot  for  the  swift, 
almost  boundless   development  of  vast    popular    wealth. 
Rich  beyond  description,  Cuba,   with  only  a  tenth  of  its 
area  occupied,  and  its  resources  as  yet  only  touched,  would, 
under  a  liberal  government,  be  the  pride  of  the  Western 
Continent. 

4.  Population.— The  population  is  about  1,600,000. 

5.  Spanish  Misrule  and  Cruelty. — It  is  said  the  Indian 
chief  Hatuei,  who  was  subjected  to  the  tortures  and  cruel- 
ties of  the  Spaniards,  said,    "If    there  are  Spaniards   in 
heaven,  I  prefer  to  go  to  hell."     Slaughter  and  deportation 
for  the  slave  markets  of  Spain  soon  reduced  the  Indian 
population.     African  slaves  were  imported  until  forty  years 
ago.     Oppression  born  of  greed,  and  practiced  upon  the 
Indians  and  Africans,  became  so  ingrained  in  the  class  that 
governed  Cuba 'that,   after  the  last  Indian    sleeps  in    his 
grave  and  Spain  has  been  forced  to  abolish  her  African 
slavery,  she  must  needs  hold  over  her  own  flesh  and  blood 
in  Cuba,  the  same  rod  of  oppression.     So  exasperating  was 
that  rod,   so  cruel  its  strokes,  that  Cuba  was  repeatedly 
thrown  into  bloody  insurrections. 

6.  Government. — Spanish  rulers  said,  "Cubans  cannot 
govern  themselves."     Spain  did  nothing  for  Cuba ;  out  of 
the  vast  amount  of  taxation,  she  spent  practically  nothing 
on  Cuba  for  education  or  internal  improvement.     The  fact 
is,  there  was  only  one  party  in  Spain  as  regards  Cuba — the 
party  that  wanted  to  suck  the  orange  and  get  all  the  juice 
out  of  it. 

;.     Official  Greed. — The  Spaniards  who  came  to  Cuba 
to  engage  in  business  only,  remained  there  long  enough  to 


CUBA   AND   ITS   INDEPENDENCE.  597 

accumulate  a  fortune,  when  they  returned  to  Spain.  Span- 
ish officials  sent  from  the  mother  country  only  remained 
long  enough  to  fill  their  pockets  with  ill-gotten  gains,  when 
they  also  returned  to  give  place  to  a  fresh  horde  of  hungry 
cormorants,  who  went  there  to  plunder  the  people,  which 
they  were  permitted  to  do  without  restraint.  There  is  no 
record  of  any  Spanish  official  being  punished  for  miscon- 
duct toward  the  Cubans. 

8.  Attempted  Revolutions. — Prior  to  the  last  insurrec- 
tion four  others  had  occurred  in  the  last  century ;    these 
were  in  1829,  in  1848-51,  in  1855,  and  the  bitter  ten-year 
war  1868-78.      Early  in    the  nineteenth   century  Spanish 
tyranny  and  exactions  led  to  revolts  of  Chili,  Peru,  Mexico, 
and  other  continental  provinces.      Cuba  alone  remained 
loyal;  but  Spain  by  her  course  of  disinheriting  Cuba  and 
withholding  her  birthright,  by  the  determined  action  of  the 
Cortez  to  wring  revenue  out  of  Cuba  and  to  guard  against 
her  achieving  independence,  has  turned  Cuban  loyalty  for 
Spain  into  hatred.     The  Cuban  of  to-day   would  rather  die 
the  death  of  battle  than  live  under  Spanish  rule.     Banished 
from  the  continent  for   her   intolerant  oppression,  Spain, 
goaded  by  her  tyrannical  greed,  was  loath  to  relinquish  her 
last  hold'  on  the  Western  hemisphere.     By  just  measures 
Spain  might  have  placed  Cuba  in  opulence  and  prosperity, 
at  the  same  time  causing  the  ever-increasing  resources  of 
the  island  to  contribute  largely  to    the    revenues  of  the 
mother  country.     But  the  vanity  of  Spain  by  which  her 
national  pride  has  been  reduced  to  pitiable  insignificance 
made  this  impossible. 

9.  Outrages  on  American  Citizens. — The  case  of  Dr. 
Ricardo  Ruiz,  an  American  c.tizen,  aroused  great  indigna- 
tion. He  was  arrested  merely  on  suspicion  of  sympathy  with 
the  insurgents  and  confined  in  prison  two  years,  when  he 
died.     The  death  was  reported  to  be  by  foul  means,  which 
the  Spanish  officials  tried  to  prove  was  false.     Also  much 
interest  was  felt  throughout  the  United  States  in  Julio 
Sanguilly's  imprisonment,  which  was  discussed  with  much 
warmth  in  the  Senate.     After  leaving  him  for  two  years  in 
a  dungeon  in  the  hands  of  cruel  Spain,  he  was  finally  re- 
leased upon  the  urgent  demands  of  the  United  States. 

Many  other  cases  might  be  noticed,  and  our  Consul- 
General  Lee  even  threatened  to  resign  if  our  government 
did  not  better  uphold  him  in  his  position  as  well  as  the 
safety  of  our  citizens  and  national  honor,  in  which  action 
he  was  generously  supported  by  the  entire  American  popu- 
lation, 


598 


CUBA    AND   ITS   INDEPENDENCE. 


10.  General  Ruis  Rivera.— This  veteran,  who  suc- 
ceeded General  Antonio  Maceo  in  command  of  the  Cuban 
forces  in  ihe  province  of  Rmardel  Rio,  was  born  in  Puerto 
Rico  in  1847.  General  Rivera  is  the  son  of  a  wealthy 
Spanish  family;  his  father  was  a  Spanish  colonel.  Young 
Rivera  was  sent  to  Spain  to  be  educated  as  a  lawyer. 
When  the  revolution  of  1868  broke  out,  he  was  studying 
law  in  Barcelona.  He  gave  up  his  college  career  and  sailed 
for  Cuba. 

Rivera  fought  valiantly;  he  displayed  at  the  head  of  his 
troops  remarkable  ability.  When  ttn  years  were  ended, 
in  1878,  he  stood  out  with  Maceo  in  his  refusal  to  accept  the 
teriiis  oi  the  treaty.  He  left  the  island  without  surrender- 
ing, and  before  going  he  handed  his  machete  (ma-tcha'-ta) 
to  Col.  Figuerdo,  his  faithful  friend,  with  this  injunction. 
"This  is  my  true  weapon.  If  I  ever  return  to  Cuba  to  fight 
for  her  freedom,  you  shall  return  it  to  me.  If  you  ever  fight 
with  it,  and  are  forced  to  surrender  or  leave  the  fields  of 
Cuba,  break  it  in  twain  and  bury  it.  Let  it  never  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

Rivera  saw  the  war  renewed  sixteen  years  afterward ;  'as 
soon  as  he  was  called  to  his  post,  he  left  Honduras,  where 
he  was  prosperous  in  business.  He  took  an  expedition  to 
Maceo;  which  materially  strengthened  the  patriots  in  the 
vest.  His  long  experience  and  his  splendid  qualifications 
made  him  conspicuous.  He  was  a  man  of  personal  mag- 
netism, and  a  natural  successor  to  his  life  long  companion, 
General  Antonio  Maceo. 


TWENTY-EIGHTH   ADMINISTRATION.  699 


WILLIAM  McKINLEY, 

Born  at  Niles,  Trumbuil  Co.,  Ohio,  January  29,  1843. 

President  March  4,  1897-1901;  shot  by  Czolgosz  September  6- 

died  September  14,  1901. 


600  M'KINLEY'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

Twenty=eighth  and  Twenty=ninth  Administrations. 

Good  Will  and  Confidence. — Never  since  the  days  of 
Madison  and  Monroe  has  a  President  of  the  United  States 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  in  such  an  atmosphere 
of  good  will  and  confidence  as  that  which  surrounded  Mr. 
McKinley.  Everybody  wishes  him  well;  even  those  who 
were  arrayed  against  him  in  the  recent  campaign  have 
come  through  the  battle  with  no  touch  of  bitterness  against 
the  man  himself.  Supported  by  the  entire  press  of  the 
United  States,  his  election  was  called  the  "triumph  of  true 
Americanism,"  and  heralded  at  home  and  abroad  as  a  con- 
vincing proof  lhat  the  American  people  can  be  trusted  to 
govern  themselves. 

Extra  Session,  LV.  Congress.— In  accordance  with  a 
call  issued  March  6th,  by  President  McKinley,  the  LV. 
Congress  met  in  extra  session  on  March  15th,  1897. 

Hon.  T.  B.  Reed  of  Maine  was  again  chosen  speaker  of 
the  House,  Representative  Bailey  of  Texas  receiving  the 
complimentary  vote  of  Democratic  members,  and  Repre- 
sentative Bell  of  Colorado  that  of  the  Populists.  ,  Mr.  Reed 
appointed  only  three  committees,  those  on  mileage,  rules, 
and  ways  and  means. 

The  Dingley  Bill. — On  the  opening  day  of  the  extraor- 
dinary session,  March  15th,  Mr.  Dingley,  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Ways  and  Means,  reported  to  the  House  the 
new  tarilf  bill,  which  had  been  in  course  of  preparation  for 
some  months,  and  on  the  nineteenth  he  submitted  the 
views  of  the  majority  of  the  committee  On  March  22d, 
Mr.  Bailey  of  Texas,  Democratic  leader  in  the  House,  pre- 
sented the  minority  report.  The  bill  itself  is  *  voluminous 
document  of  169  printed  'pages,  and  is  popularly  called  the 
Dingley  bill. 

The  debate  on  the  tariff  bill  began  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, on  March  22d,  and  lasted  until  the  81st,  the 
final  vote  being  taken  at  3  p.  m. 

The  bill  was  at  once  sent  to  the  Senate,  where  it  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Finance,  which  reported  it 
back  April  4th. 

The  Senate  debate  began  thus  and  continued  to  July  7th, 
when  the  bill  was  returned  in  such  a  mutilated  state  that 
its  own  father  could  hardly  recognize  his  child.  However, 
the  bill  went  to  conference,  whence  it  was  reported  to  and 
rushed  through  the  House,  July  19th.  The  Senate  then  took 
it  up  again  and  debated  till  the  23d,  when  at  3  p.  m.  they 
voted  to  accept  the  conference  report.  President  McKinley 
signed  it  the  same  day. 


SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR. 


Spanish=American  War. 


601 


The  Final  Revolution,  resulting  in  the  freedom  of 
Cuba,  commenced  in  October,  1895.  The  Cubans  were 
successful  in  resisting  the  Spanish  army  sent  against  them, 
but  were  unable  to  drive  it  from  the  island.  The  struggle 
continued  for  nearly  three  years,  and  partook  largely  of  the 
nature  of  guerilla  warfare. 


M.  GOMEZ. 


The  government  of  the  United  States  was  neutral,  and 
for  that  reason  attempted,  at  great  expense,  to  keep  expe- 
ditions in  aid  of  the  Cubans  from  leaving  American  ports. 
These  efforts  were  in  part  unsuccessful.  The  long  war  so 
near  our  coast  caused  much  irritation  both  in  Spain  and  the 
United  States.  The  great  sufferings  among  the  reconcen- 
trados  of  Cuba  greatly  aroused  the  sympathies  of  the 
American  people. 

Provisions  and  Medicines  were  sent  the  suffering 
Cubans  in  large  quantities.  Miss  Clara  Barton,  the  veteran 


602     '  SPANISH-AMERICAN   WAR. 

president  of  the  Red  Cross  society,  was  the  head  of  the  re- 
lief committee  stationed  in  Cuba.  This  society  also  did 
much  to  relieve  the  distress  of  both  armies  in  the  war  which 
soon  followed. 

Reconcentrados. — Govenor-General  Weyler  ordered  all 
Cuban  non-combatants,  such  as  women  and  children,  old 
men,  and  peasants,  into  the  towns  where  the  Spanish  army 
had  control.  These  people  so  collected  were  known  as 
reconcen  trades. 

Dreadful  suffering  was  the  result.  Starvation  and  dis- 
ease swept  away  many  thousands  of  these  innocent  people. 

President  McKinley  protested  to  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment against  this  order  of  General.  Weyler. 

Finally,  in  April,  1897,  the  queen  regent  of  Spain  signed 
a  decree  granting  reforms  in  Cuba.  General  Weyler  was 
recalled,  and  General  Blanco  was  appointed  Captain- 
General  of  Cuba.  Blanco  expressed  a  willingness  to  have 
relief  sent  the  suffering  reconcentrados,  provided  none  of 
it  should  go  to  the  Cubans  in  arms.  As  a  result,  thou- 
sands of  dollars  were  sent  to  Cuba  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States  to  relieve  the  starving  people.  Miss  Clara 
Barton,  in  person,  went  to  Cuba  to  aid  in  the  distribution 
of  supplies  of  food  and  medicine. 

The  Destruction  of  the  Battleship  Maine. — Finally, 
on  the  evening  of  February  15,  1898,  while  lying  peacefully 
at  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  Cuba,  the  United  States 
battleship  Maine  was  sunk  by  an  explosion,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  of  her  seamen  killed. 

After  a  careful  investigation,  the  naval  board  appointed 
by  the  President,  found  that  the  explosion  was  external  and 
caused  by  a  sub-marine  mine ;  and  not  by  an  internal  force, 
which  was  thought  might  have  been  the  result  of  an  acci- 
dent in  the  magazine  of  the  ship. 

Our  government  assumed  that  this  awful  crime  was  not 
the  act  of  the  Spanish  authorities.  But  the  conditions,  so 
near  our  shores,  which  made  such  a  deed  possible,  were 
intolerable. 

The  President's  Message  to  Congress. — April  11,  1898, 
President  McKinley  sent  a  message  to  Congress  in  which 
he  said:  "The  grounds  of  intervention  may  be  briefly 
summarized  as  follows: 

"First,  In  the  cause  of  humanity,  and  to  put  an  end  to 
the  barbarities,  bloodshed,  starvation,  and  horrible  mis- 
eries now  existing  there,  and  which  the  parties  to  the  con- 
flict are  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  stop  or  to  mitigate. 
It  is  no  answer  to  say  this  is  all  in  another  country  belong- 
ing to  another  nation,  and  is,  therefore,  none  of  our 


SPANISH-AMERICAN   WAR. 


603 


business.     It  is  especially  our  duty,  for  it  is  right  at  our 
door. 

"Second,  We  owe  it  to  our  citizens  in  Cuba  to  afford 
them  that  protection  and  indemnity  for  life  and  property 
which  no  government  there  can  or  will  afford,  and  to  that 
end  to  terminate  the  conditions  that  deprive  them  of  legal 
protection. 


GEN.  WEYLER. 

"Third,  The  right  to  intervene  may  be  justified  by  the 
very  serious  injury  to  the  commerce,  trade,  and  business 
of  our  people,  and  by  the  wanton  destruction  of  property 
and  devastation  of  the  island. 

"Fourth  (and  which  is  of  utmost  importance),  The  pres- 
ent condition  of  affairs  in  Cuba  is  a  constant  menace  to  our 
peace,  and  entails  upon  this  government  at  an  enormous  ex- 
pense. With  such  a  conflict  waged  for  years  in  an  island 
so  near  us,  and  with  which  our  people  have  such  trade  and 
business  relations;  where  the  lives  and  liberties  of  our  citi- 
zens are  in  constant  danger  and  their  property  destroyed 
and  themselves  ruined;  where  our  trading  vessels  are 
liable  to  seizure,  and  are  seized  at  our  very  door  by  war- 
ships of  a  foreign  nation,  the  expeditions  of  filibustering 
that  we  are  powerless  altogether  to  prevent,  and  the  irri- 


604  SPANISH-AMERICAN   WAR. 

tating  questions  and  entanglements  thus  arising — all  these 
and  others  that  I  need  not  mention,  with  the  resulting 
strained  relations,  are  a  constant  menace  to  our  peace,  and 
compel  us  to  keep  on  a  semi-war  footing  with  a  war  nation 
with  which  we  are  at  peace. ' ' 

On  April  19th  the  following  joint  resolutions  were 
passed  by  Congress: 

"Whereas,  The  abhorrent  conditions  which  have  pre- 
vailed more  than  three  years  in  the  island  of  Cuba,  so  near 
our  own  borders,  have  shocked  the  moral  sense  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  have  been  a  disgrace  to  Chris- 
tian civilization,  culminating,  as  they  have,  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  a  United  States  battleship,  with  two  hundred  and 
sixty  of  its  officers  and  crew,  while  on  a  friendly  visit  to 
the  harbor  of  Havana,  and  can  not  longer  be  endured,  as 
has  been  set  forth  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  in 
his  message  to  Congress  of  April.ll,  1898,  upon  which  the 
action  of  Congress  was  invited ;  therefore,  be  it  resolved, 

"First,  That  the  people  of  the  island  of  Ou-ba  are,  and 
of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent. 

"Second,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  de- 
mand, and  the  government  of  the  United  States  does 
hereby  demand,  that  the  government  of  Spain  at  once 
relinquish  its  authority  and  government  in  the  island  of 
Cuba,  and  withdraw  its  land  and  naval  forces  from  Cuba 
and  Cuban  waters. 

"Third,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and 
hereby  is,  directed  and  empowered  to  use  the  entire  lan^ 
and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  to  call  into  the 
actual  service  of  the  United  States  the  militia  of  the  several 
states  to  such  an  extent  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry  these 
resolutions  into  effect. 

"Fourth,  That  the  United  States  hereby  disclaims  any 
disposition  or  intention  to  exercise  sovereignty,  jurisdic- 
tion, or  control  over  said  island,  except  for  the  pacification 
thereof,  and  asserts  its  determination  when  that  is  accom- 
plished, to  leave  the  government  and  control  of  the  island 
to  its  people." 

War  was  declared  April  25,  1898.  Congress  voted  $400,- 
000,000  with  which  to  carry  on  the  war.  The  President 
called  for  200,000  volunteers;  the  National  Guard  of  the 
different  states  responded  quickly  to  this  call. 

Manila,  Philippine  Islands.— Commodore  (now  Admiral) 
Dewey,  in  command  of  the  American  navy  at  Hongkong, 
China,  was  ordered  by  the  President  to  find  and  destroy 
the  Spanish  fleet.  Accordingly  Dewey,  with  six  modern 
fighting  vessels,  entered  Manila  Bay  on  Saturday  night, 


SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR.  605 

April  30th.  Gliding  past  forts  and  over  mines,  he  gained 
the  inner  harbor  at  daybreak,  May  1st,  when  he  engaged 
the  Spanish  fleet.  In  a  few  hours  every  Spanish  vessel  was 
sunk.  Not  an  American  was  killed,  and  only  eight  were 
injured. 

From  May  1st  to  August  13th  the  city  of  Manila  was 
besieged  on  the  land  side  by  the  natives  of  the  Philippines, 
who,  like  the  Cubans,  had  been  fighting  for  their  liberty. 

Troops,  with  Gen.  Wesley  Merritt  in  command,  were 
hurried  across  the  Pacific  to  aid  the  American  fleet. 

August  13th  the  city  of  Manila  was  captured  by  the 
Americans  after  a  sharp  engagement. 

Around  Cuba. — On  April  29th  a  strong  Spanish  squad- 
ron under  Admiral  Cervera  left  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  and 
shortly  after  made  its  appearance  in  the  West  Indies.  For 
a  few  days  the  cities  along  the  Atlantic  coast  felt  great 
anxiety  for  their  safety,  and  for  some  time  the  exact  where- 
abouts of  the  squadron  was  a  great  mystery.  Finally, 
Cervera  ran  his  ships  into  the  harbor  of  Santiago  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  coal.  Here  he  was  quickly  shut  in  by 
the  American  navy  under  Admiral  Sampson  and  Commo- 
dore Schley.  In  order  to  keep  the  Spanish  fleet  in  the  har- 
bor, Lieutenant  Hobson  with  six  assistants,  on  the  morning 
of  June  3d,  ran  the  coaling  ship,  Merrimac,  into  the  nar- 
rowest part  of  the  channel  and  sunk  her  there. 

In  order  to  accomplish  this  he  must  face  the  direct  fire 
of  the  Spanish  fortifications  and  fleet.  This  exploit  has 
few  rivals  in  history.  Hobson  and  his  companions  won  the 
applause  of  the  world,  but  the  harbor  was  not  closed,  as 
we  shall  see. 

Every  effort  was  now  put  forth  by  the  American  govern- 
ment to  capture  the  city  of  Santiago,  and  with  it  the  Span- 
ish fleet. 

During  the  last  half  of  June,  the  American  army  under 
General  Shafter  landed  near  Santiago.  On  July  1st  and 
2d,  heavy  fighting  gave  the  American  army  a  position  from 
which  it  could  command  the  city.  The  battles  by  which 
this  position  was  won  are  known  as  La  Guasima,  El  Caney, 
'  and  San  Juan.  On  the  3d  of  July,  Admiral  Cervera  at- 
tempted to  escape  from  Santiago  harbor. 

About  9:30  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  the  Spanish  fleet 
was  seen  coming  out  of  the  harbor,  in  its  effort  to  escape, 
In  a  few  minutes  the  American  fleet  was  in  action.  By 
1:15  p.  m.,  the  whole  Spanish  fleet  was  destroyed.  In  that 
short  time  600  Spaniards  perished,  and  1,200  were  taken 
prisoners. 


606  ANNEXATION  OF   HAWAII. 

The  Americans  lost  not  a  single  vessel,  and  but  one  man 
killed  and  two  wounded. 

On  the  17th  of  July,  Santiago,  with  22,000  soldiers,  sur- 
rendered to  General  Shafter. 

The  Americans  were  not  as  fortunate  on  lanfl  as  on  sea. 
In  the  fighting  around  Santiago  we  lost  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  prisoners  over  1,600  men.  In  addition  to  this  many  of 
our  soldiers  died  from  yellow  fever  and  other  diseases. 

On  the  fall  of  Santiago,  an  expedition,  under  General 
Nelson  A.  Miles,  was  sent  against  Puerto  Rico.  The 
Americans  were  rapidly  gaining  possession  of  this  island 
when  the  war  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  signing  of  the 
protocol. 

A  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  in  Paris,  December  10, 
1898.  By  this  treaty  Spain  surrendered  all  claim  of  sover- 
eignty over,  and  title  to,  Cuba. 

She  ceded  the  following  to  the  United  States:  Puerto 
Rico  and  other  islands  of  the  West  Indies  belonging  to 
Spain,  the  island  of  Guam  in  the  Ladrones,  and  the  archi- 
pelajgo  known  as  the  Philippine  Islands. 

The  United  States  paid  $20,000,000  to  Spain. 

By  this  treaty  Spain  lost  ner  last  colonial  possessions 
brought  to  her  through  the  discoveries  of  Columbus.  In 
the  year  1800  Spain  was,  so  far  as  territory  would  make 
her  so,  the  greatest  empire  of  the  world.  The  close  of  the 
nineteenth  century  finds  her  with  practically  no  colonial 
possessions. 

In  1800  the  Mississippi  River  was  the  western  boundary 
of  the  United  States,  ttie  Atlantic  Ocean  the  eastern  boun- 
dary. The  close  of  the  century  finds  her  western  boundary 
including  Alaska,  Hawaii,  and  the  Philippine  Islands. 
Her  eastern  boundary  includes  the  island  of  Puerto  Rico. 
This  is  from  65°  west  longitude  to  118°  east  longitude, 
or  a  total  of  183°,  a  little  more  than  one-half  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  earth.  So  we  can  say  with  Great  Britain,  "The 
sun  never  sets  on  our  dominions." 


Annexation  of  Hawaii,  1898. 

It  was,  perhaps,  the  ultimate  destiny  of  Hawaii  to  come 
tfader  the  government  of  the  United  States.  But  the 
Spanish- American  war  greatly  accelerated  this  movement. 

Congress  passed  a  joint  resolution  accepting  the  cession 


POLITICAL  CONTEST  OF  1000.  60? 

of  Hawaii  to  the  United  States.  This  resolution  was  ap- 
proved by  the  President  July  7,  1898,  thus  making  this  date 
an  important  one  to  the  people  of  these  islands. 

In  1897,  a  treaty  by  which  Hawaii  was  to  become  a  part 
of  the  Union  had  been  made  between  the  two  republics, 
but  had  not  yet  been  ratified  by  the  United  States  Senate. 
As  it  takes  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  Senate  to  ratify  a 
treaty,  there  was  some  doubt  as  to  the  success  of  the 
treaty;  hence  the  use  of  the  joint-resolution  method.  In 
this  Congress  followed  the  precedent  established  in  the  ad- 
mission of  Texas  in  1845. 


Tariff  and  Revenue  Laws. 

During  McKinley 's  first  term  Congress  again  revised 
the  tariff  laws. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  tariff  law  passed  during 
Harrison's  term  of  office  was  displaced  by  the  Wilson  law. 
under  Cleveland's  administration.  The  Wilson  law  re- 
duced the  tariff,  and  the  revenue  under  it  was  not  sufficient 
to  meet  the  demands  of  the  government. 

President  McKinley  promptly  convened  the  new  Con- 
gress, which  soon  passed  what  is  known  as  the  "Dingley 
Bill,"  a  new  tariff  law. 

But  the  Spanish- American  war  soon  made  it  necessary 
to  find  other  methods  of  raising  revenue. 

A  stamp  tax  was  placed  on  all  legal  papers,  such  as 
notes,  deeds,  drafts,  mortgages,  checks,  orders,  and  the 
like.  The  tax  on  tobacco,  alcoholic  and  malt  liquors  was 
also  increased  to  meet  this  new  demand. 


Political  Contest  of  1900. 

President  McKinley  was  again  the  candidate  for  the 
Republican  party,  and  William  J.  Bryan  of  the  Democratic. 
John  G.  Woolley,  the  great  temperance  advocate,  was  the 
candidate  for  the  Prohibition  party,  and  Eugene  V.  Debs 
for  the  Socialistic-Democratic.  Mr.  Debs  was,  in  1894, 
president  of  the  American  Railway  Union,  and  the  leader 


608       THE  DESTRUCTION  OP  GALVESTON. 

of  the  great  railroad  strike  of  that  year.  There  were  other 
candidates  in  the  field,  but  all  the  minor  parties  cast  but 
few  votes  as  compared  with  the  total  vote  of  all  parties. 

The  principal  issue  between  the  two  great  parties  grew 
out  of  the  results  of  the  Spanish- American  war.  The 
Filipinos,  though  defeated  in  open  battle,  still  continued 
the  struggle  in  the  form  of  guerilla  warfare.  President 
McKinley  favored  the  holding  and  governing  of  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  as  a  part  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Bryan 
taught  that  the  people  of  these  islands  should  be  free  to 
govern  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States. 

The  question  of  the  free  coinage  of  silver  again  entered 
into  the  contest,  but  only  as  a  minor  question. 

The  evils  of  intemperance,  the  fear  of  great  trusts,  the 
size  of  our  standing  army,  all  came  into  the  political  dis- 
cussion. 

The  tariff  slept  during  this  campaign. 

William  McKinley  was  again  elected  President  of  the 
United  States  by  a  still  more  decisive  majority  than  in 
1896. 


The  Destruction  of  Qalveston. 

« 

In  September,  1900,  a  terrific  cyclone,  originating  in  the 
Caribbean  Sea,  swept  across  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  As  it 
struck  the  coast  of  Texas,  it  utterly  destroyed  the  city  of 
Galveston,  by  flooding  with  gulf  waters  the  low  island  on 
which  the  city  is,  situated. 

This  storm  of  wind  and  rain  passed  northward  through 
Texas,  then  curving  eastward,  it  passed  over  Oklahoma, 
Missouri,  Iowa,  Illinois,  and  the  Great  Lake  region.  By 
the  time  it  had  left  Texas,  it  had  lost  much  of  its  destruc- 
tive effects. 

Many  lives  were  lost  in  Galveston  and  in  other  parts  of 
Texas. 

The  heart  of  the  nation  responded  to  the  cry  of  the 
needy. 


PRESIDENT   KRUGER. 


610  THE   BOER-BRITISH  WAR. 

The  Boer-British  War. 

Early  History  of  the  Boers.— The  Orange  Free  State 
and  the  Transvaal  Republic  are  composed  of  Dutch  far- 
mers whose  forefathers  had  settled  in  Cape  Colony,  and 
had  afterward  gone  northward  because  they  would  not 
remain  under  the  rule  of  the  British  who  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  Cape  Colony. 

Freeing  the  Slaves.— In  1836  many  of  the  Boers  left 
Cape  Colony  and  trekked  to  the  northward  to  make  homes 
for  themselves  in  the  wild  country  north  of  the  Orange 
River.  In  order  to  do  this  they  had  to  fight  for  their  very 
existence,  for  they  were*among  savages. 
"v  This  migration  was  caused  by  the  Boers'  hatred  of  Brit- 
ish manners,  customs,  speech,  and  laws.  The  principal 
grievance  of  the  Boers  was  that  Great  Britain  had  abol- 
ished slavery  in  all  her  colonies.  This  she  had  done  at  the 
great  expense  of  $100,000,000  paid  her  slave  holders  for  the 
loss  of  their  slaves- 
Cape  Colony  slave  holders  were  supposed  to  receive 
$6,000,000  of  this  amount.  The  Boers  were  dissatisfied 
with  the  amount  they  received,  which,  we  have  good 
reason  to  believe,  did  not  reach  the  pocket-books  of  those 
who  should  have  received  it. 

But  the  greatest  grievance  was  that  the  Boers  were  un- 
willing to  give  up  their  slaves.  So,  for  the  privilege  of 
having  the  liberty  to  enslave  the  black  African,  they  went 
north  and  established  the  Orange  Free  State.  This  lies 
between  the  Orange  River  at  the  south  and  the  Vaal  River 
to  the  north. 

But  the  Englishmen  soon  began  to  crowd  in  upon  the 
Dutch  settlers  above  the  Orange  River.  Again  the  more 
obstinate  of  the  Boers  trekked  to  the  north  of  the  Vaal 
River.  Here  a  new  Dutch  state  was  formed,  known  as  the 
Transvaal  Republic. 

Majuba  Hill.— But  the  ever  expanding  British  empire 
continued  to  encroach  upon  the  Dutch  farmers  of  the 
Transvaal.  Finally,  at  the  battle  of  Majuba  Hill,  in  1881, 
the  British  were  badly  defeated  by  the  Boers.  As  a  re- 
sult, the  British  government  acknowledged  the  Transvaal 
as  an  independent  republic. 

Diamond  Fields  and  Gold  Mines.— Perhaps  no  disturb- 
ances would  have  been  likely  to  arise,  but  for  the  discovery 
of  rich  diamond  fields  and  gold  mines  in  the  Transvaal 
region.  These  brought  in  a  large  new  population  of  out- 
siders, or  "Uitlanders,"  as  the  Boers  call  them.  These 


THE  BOER-BRITISH  WAR.  611 

came  from  many  countries,  but  most  of  them  are  of  Eng- 
lish speech.  They  now  outnumber  the  Boers.  They  paid 
taxes,  but  were  not  represented  in  the  government.  This 
fact  finally  resulted  in  the  Boer-British  war  of  1899-1900. 

Dr.  Jameson  Raid. — In  January,  1896,  Dr.  Jameson,  at 
the  head  of  800  men,  made  a  raid  upon  the  Boers,  evi- 
dently with  the  intention  of  overthrowing  their  govern- 
ment. He  was  completely  routed  and  taken  prisoner. 
President  Kruger  delivered  him  over  to  the  British  govern- 
ment. The  evidence  against  Dr.  Jameson  was  overwhelm- 
ing. The  British  court  found  him  guilty  of  violating  the 
neutrality  laws,  and  sentenced  him  to  imprisonment. 

Causes  of  the  Recent  Troubles. — To  an  unprejudiced 
outsider  it  looks  as  if  both  the  Boers  and  the  British  were 
somewhat  at  fault.  The  Boers  were  extremely  conserva- 
tive ;  they  were  not  willing  to  yield  to  outside  influences. 
They  are  a  tough,  knotty  sort  of  people,  and  it  was  very 
difficult  for  them  to  give  way  to  modern  ideas.  They  had 
won  their  political  and  geographical  position  by  hard 
knocks.  They  appealed  to  the  world  in  the  name  of  justice, 
but  they  were  not  ready  to  be  just  in  their  own  internal 
affairs. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  ever  pushing  his 
way  into  all  parts  of  the  world,  especially  where  diamond 
fields  and  gold  mines  are  to  be  found.  They  are  not 
overly  thoughtful  about  the  rights  and  welfare  of  others. 

The  Englishman  sees  a  great  future  in  Africa.  North 
America  and  Asia  have  been  crossed  by  the  railroad ;  why 
not  connect  Cape  Colony  with  Egypt  by  bands  of  steel?  It 
will  be  done  in  due  time. 

The  Fighting  and  Sieges.— We  cannot  here  enter  into 
a  full  history  of  the  Boer-British  war.  It  is  sufficient  to 
state  that  the  Boers  showed  themselves  to  be  magnificent 
fighters.  The  two  little  aristocratic  republics  of  Africa 
held  out  for  two  years  against  one  of  the  great  empires  of 
the  world. 

The  Boers  commenced  the  fight  by  attacking  the  British 
at  Glencoe,  in  Natal.  This  was  on  British  soil.  The  Eng- 
lish soldiers  were  quickly  shut  in  Ladysmith  and  besieged 
by  the  Boers.  For  one  hundred  fifty  days  the  British  held 
out  against  the  Boers.  In  turn  General  Buller,  the 
British  commander,  with  all  his  efforts  could  not  relieve 
Ladysmith. 

Kimberly  and  Mafeking  were  also  besieged,  and  as  per- 
sistently held  out  against  the  Boers. 


612  THE   BOER-BRITISH   WAR. 

It  was  not  until  Lord  Roberts  and  General  Kitchener, 
with  large  reinforcements,  were  sent  to  South  Africa  that 
the  tide  was  turned. 

General  Cronje  was  a  very  bold  and  skillful  general; 
but  in  one  of  his  bold  movements  he  was  caught  in  a  trap 
set  by  Lord  Roberts.  The  British  general  had  moved  too 
quickly  for  Cronje,  and  he  was  obliged  to  surrender  with 
his  whole  command. 

President  Steyn,  of  the  Orange  Free  States,  held  out  for 
many  months,  after  the  fight  had  descended  to  the  form  of 
guerilla  warfare. 

President  Kruger,  of  the  Transvaal  Republic,  went  to 
Europe  with  the  hope  of  persuading  some  of  the  great 
nations  to  intercede  in  behalf  of  the  Boer  republics,  but 
without  success. 


THEODORE    ROOSEVELT, 

Twenty-fifth  President. 

Born  in  New  York,  October  27,  1858. 

Inaugurated  President  at  Buffalo,  September  14,  1001, 


614          SAFETY  OF  OUR  GOVERNMENT. 

Safety  of  Our  Government. 

1.  Personal  Integrity. — The  life  of  our  nation  does  not  de- 
pend upon  its  statute  books,  but  upon  the  public  sentiment 
behind  the  statutes.    Whether  we  shall  have  a  gold  or  a  silver 
standard  is  not  of  such  vital  importance  as  that  we  have  sound 
moral  sense  in  public  men  and  in  leaders  of  opinion.    SAFE 
CITIZENSHIP  retires  personal  integrity,  conscience  in  poli- 
tics, Sunday's  principles  applied  in  Monday's  transactions. 

2.  The  Voter  a  Ruler. — In  a  republic  every  voter  is  a 
ruler;  and  the  only  solid  basis  of  good  government  is  the 
individual  conscience  which  seeks  to  know  what  is  right  and 
dares  to  do  it.     The  ballot  is  infinitely  more  than  a  privilege; 
it  is  a  solemn  trust,  and  he  who  fails  to  use  it,  or  who  uses  it 
carelessly  or  corruptly,  is  guilty  of  treason  to  his  country. 

3.  Cool  Heads. — It  is  an  easy  matter  to  discover  that 
the  ship  has  sprung  a  leak — any  landsman  can  do  that;  but 
neither  hysterics  nor  profanity  can  stop  it.     In  such  an 
emergency  one  clear  cool-headed  ship's  carpenter  is  better 
than  many  professors  of  theoretical  navigation  or  thousands 
of  excited  first-cabin  passengers. 

4.  Argument  versus  Abuse. — It  will  do  the  silver  men 
no  good  to  tell  the  gold  men  that  they  are  nothing  but  "Wall 
street  bloats."     It  will  make  no  votes  for  the  gold  standard 
to  assert  that  the  silverites  are  a  gang  of  ignorant  know- 
nothings.     It  will  not  help  either  of  the  old  political  parties 
to  assert  that  the  Prohibitionists  are  not  capable  of  think- 
ing of  anything  else  but  the  destruction  of  the  saloon.     It 
will  not  gain  the  Prohibitionists  a  single  vote  to  declare 
that  there  is  an  unholy  league  between  the  church  and  the 
saloon  business.     It  will  not  decrease  the  Populist's  vote  to 
declare  that  some  of  them  in  their  national  convention  took 
off  their  shoes,  and  that  the  majority  of  them  wore  long  flow- 
ing whiskers.      .Arguments  make  votes  most  rapidly  when 
\t  is  shown  by  words  and  actions  that  you  are  a  gentleman 
entitled  to  respect  when  you  open  your  mouth  to  speak. 

5.  God  Reigns. — The  ants  were  wrong  in  supposing 
that  the  end  of  the  world  had  come  because  a  plowshare 
went  through   their  hill.    Our  plans   may  fail  without  a 
serious  disturbance  to  the  universal  order.    The  Lord  has 
not  abdicated;  he  is  as  capable  as  ever  of  managing  things. 
It  is  just  conceivable  that  neither  my  way  nor  your  way  is 
the  best  way.    The  times  may  be  a  trifle  out  of  joint,  the 
hoodwink  of  justice  may  be  temporarily  awry,  bimetallists 
may  sing  and  rejoice  in  the  light  of  their  silver  moon,  sound 
money  men  may  imagine  the  golden  gate  just  ahead,  the 
tides  may  ebb  and  Cherith  may  run  dry,  but  "God  reigns 
and  the  government  is  safe." 


GLOSSARY.  615 

Gold  and  Silver  Glossary. 

Bimetallism. — Unlimited  coinage  of  both  gold  and  silver 
National. —  Without  reference  to  other  nations.  Inter- 
national—In agreement  with  other  nations. 

Bullion. — Uncoined  gold  or  silver  in  bars. 

Coinage. — Free, — coinage  of  all  bullions  offered,  free  ot 
charge  to  owners.  Unlimited, — coinage  of  all  bullion  offered 
Independent, — unrestricted  by  other  nations. 

Contraction. — Reduction  of  amount  of  money  in  circu- 
lation. 

Expansion. — National  increase  of  amount  of  money  in 
circulation. 

Fiat  Money. — The  doctrine  that  the  government  can 
make  paper,  leather,  or  any  other  material  into  money  by 
simply  putting  its  stamp  upon  it,  without  reference  to  its 
redemption  in  coin. 

Gold  Bugs. — Those  who  support  the  gold  standard, 
especially  eastern  money-lenders. 

Gold  Reserve. — Gold  held  by  the  Treasury  for  redemp- 
tion of  paper  money. 

Gold  Standard. — Gold  the  measure  of  all  money  value. 

Gold  Standard  Countries. —  Austria,  Brazil,  Chili, 
Canada,  Denmark,  Egypt,  Finland,  Germany,  Great  Britain, 
Liberia,  Newfoundland,  Norway,  Portugal,  Sweden,  Tur- 
key, United  States. 

Inflation. —  Unusually  or  unnaturally  large  issue  of 
paper  money  or  depreciated  coin. 

Parity  of  Gold  and  Silver. — Equality  of  purchasing 
powers.  As  the  bullion  in  a  silver  dollar  is  worth  so  much 
less  commercially,  than  the  gold  in  a  gold  dollar,  silver 
money  and  silver  certificates  would  be  at  a  discount,  if  it 
were  not  known  that  the  government  is  pledged  to  main- 
tain them  at  a  parity  or  equality  and  receive  them  for  all 
public  dues. 

Seigniorage. — The  difference  between  the  cost  of  bul- 
lion purchased  by  the  government  and  its  face  value  when 
coined.  For  example,  the  present  commercial  value  of  sil- 
ver is  69  cents  per  ounce.  One  hundred  ounces  costing  $6S 
tvould  coin  $129.29.  The  seigniorage  or  gain  of  the  govern- 
ment would,  therefore,  be  about  $60.  Under  free  coinage 
this  profit  would  go  to  the  individual  owners  of  the  bullion. 

Silver  Barons. — Men  who  have  large  interests  in  silver 
mines  and  would  be  benefited  by  free  coinage. 

Silver  Standard. — Silver  the  measure  of  all  money  value. 

Silver  Standard  Countries. — Bolivia,  Central  America, 
China,  Columbia,  Ecuador,  India,  Japan,  Mexico,  Peru, 
Russia,  Tripoli, 


616 


Popular  and   Electoral  Vote  for   1888. 


STATES. 

POPULAK  VOTE. 

Pluralities. 

Total  Vote. 

Electoral  Vote. 

II 

Cleveland, 
Democrat. 

Harrison, 
Republican. 

Fisk, 
Prohibition. 

Streeter, 
Labor. 

Alabama  
Arkansas  .. 

117,320 
85,962 
117,729 
37,567 
74,920 
1H,414 
39,561 
100,499 
348,278 
261,013 
179,877 
102,745 
183,800 
85,032 
50,481 
106,168 
151,855 
213,469 
104,385 
85,471 
261,974 
80,552 
5,326 
43,382 
151,493 
635,757 
147,902 
396,455 
26,522 
446,633 
17,530 
65,825 
158,779 
234,883 
16,788 
151,977 
78,677 
155,232 

56,197 
58,752 
124,816 
50,774 
74,584 
12,973 
26,657 
40,496 
370,437 
263,361 
211,598 
182,904 
155,134 
30,484 
73,734 
99,986 
183,892 
236,387 
142,492 
30,096 
236,257 
108,425 
7,229 
45,724 
144,344 
648,759 
134,784 
416,054 
33,291 
526,091 
21,968 
13,736 
138,988 
88,422 
45,192 
150,438 
78,171 
176,553 

583 
641 
5,761 
2,191 
4,234 
400 
423 
1,808 
21,695 
9,881 
3,550 
6.779 
5,225 
160 
2,691 
4,767 
8,701 
20,942 
15.311 
218 
4,539 
9,429 
41 
1,566 
7,904 
30,231 
2,789 
24,256 
1,677 
20,947 
1,250 

"5,969 
4,749 
1,460 
1,678 
1,084 
14,277 

'ioieis 

61,123  C 
27,  210  C 
7.087H 
13,  207  H 
3360 
3,441  C 
12,904  C 
60,003  0 
22.195H 
2.348H 
31,711H 
80,159H 
28,6660 
54,548  C 
23,253  H 
6,182  C 
32,037H 
22,918H 
38,107H 
55,875  C 
25,717  C 
27,873H 
1,903H 
2,342H 
7,1490 
13,002H 
13,118  C 
19,599H 
6,769H 
79,458H 
4,438H 
52,0890 
19,791  C 
146,461  C 
28,404H 
1,5390 
5060 
21,321H 

174,100 
155,968 
251,339 
91,798 
153,978 
i9,787 
66,641 
142,939 
747,686 
536,949 
404,130 
334,035 
344,781 
115,744 
128,250 
210,<21 
844,448 
476,273 
263,306 
115,807 
523,198 
202,653 
12.596 
90,730 
303,741 
1,320,109 
285,512 
841,941 
61,911 
997,568 
40,766 
79,941 
303,736 
357,518 
63,440 
304,093 
159,440 
854,614 

IOC 
70 
8H 
3H 
60 
30 
40 
12  C 
22H 
15H 
13H 
9H 
13  C 
80 
6H 
80 
14H 
13H 
7H 
90 
160 
5H 
3H 
4H 
90 
36H 
110 
23H 
3H 
80H 
4H 
90 
120 
130 
4H 
120 
60 
11H 

233H 
168  C 

California  
Colorado  
Connecticut  .  .  . 
Delaware  
Florida  
Georgia  
Illinois  

1,286 
240 

'  '  '136 
7,090 
2,694 
9,105 
37,788 
622 
39 
1,344 

Indiana  
Iowa 

Kansas  

Kentucky  
Louisiana  
Maine  
Maryland  

Massachusetts. 
Michigan  
Minnesota  .  — 
Mississippi  
Missouri  
Nebraska  

*,555 
1,094 
22 
18,632 
4,226 

N  ewHampshire 
New  Jersey  — 
New  York  
North  Carolina 
Ohio 

13 

""626 
47 

3,496 
363 

3,873 
18 

Oregon  
Pennsylvania  . 
Rhode  Island.. 
South  Carolina 
Tennessee  
Texas 

48 
29,459 

"i,508 

8,552 

Vermont  

Virginia  
West  Virginia. 
Wisconsin  

Total  :. 

5,538,233 

5,440,216 

249,907 

148,105 

576,158  C 
478,141H 

11,392,382 

Cleveland's  plurality,  98,017. 

Majority  but  Not  Elected.— The  above  table  illustrates 
how  a  candidate  can  receive  a  majority  of  the  popular  votes 
and  still  not  be  elected.  In  1888  Cleveland  received  98,017 
majority,  but  Harrison  had  65  majority  in  the  electoral  vote. 
It  results  from  the  fact  that  a  small  majority  in  any  state 
decides  the  electoral  vote  as  really  as  very  large  majorities. 
For  example:  In  the  above  table,  take  Alabama,  Georgia, 


Electoral  Vote  for  1892,  1896,  and  1900. 


617 


STATES. 

Cleveland. 

Harrison. 

Weaver. 

1896. 

STATES. 

Cleveland.  | 

1 

Weaver. 

1896. 

11 

11 

Nebraska. 

8 

g 

Arkansas 

H 

8 

Nevada  

3 

s 

California  

8 

1 

9 

New  Hampshire 

4 

4 

Colorado       .  . 

4 

4 

New  Jersey  

10 

10 

6 

H 

New  York    .  .     . 

36 

86 

Delaware    ... 

fl 

3 

North  Carolina. 

11 

11 

Florida 

\ 

4 

North  Dakota.  . 

1 

1 

1 

3 

13 

13 

Ohio. 

1 

99 

23 

S 

3 

Oregon  

8 

1 

4 

Illinois  

?4 

?4 

Pennsylvania  .  .  . 

8?, 

3?, 

Indiana 

15 

15 

Rhode  Island... 

4 

4 

Iowa  
Kansas. 

13 

in 

13 
10 

South  Carolina. 
South  Dakota... 

9 

4 

9 
4 

is 

13 

Tennessee       . 

1? 

12 

Louisiana. 

H 

8 

Texas  

15 

15 

6 

6 

Utah 

3 

Maryland 

8 

8 

Vermont  

4 

4 

15 

15 

Virginia 

1? 

12 

5 

9 

14 

4 

4 

M  innesota  

9 

9 

West  Virginia... 

6 

6 

g 

9 

19 

12 

Missouri 

17 

17 

Wyoming. 

s 

3 

3 

3 



Total  

?T77 

145 

7!fl 

447 

and  Texas.  These  gave  Cleveland  267,584  majority,  but 
only  35  electoral  votes.  On  the  other  hand,  Indiana,  New 
York,  and  Ohio  gave  Harrison  only  34,949  majority,  but 
74  electoral  votes.  In  these  six  states  Cleveland  received 
232,635  majority,  but  Harrison  received  39  majority  on  the 
electoral  vote.  This  is  one  of  the  chief  arguments  used 
in  urging  the  election  of  President  and  Vice-President  by 
popular  vote. 

Electoral  Votes  of  a  State  may  be  Divided.— From  the 
above  table  it  can  be  seen  that  the  electoral  vote  of  a  state 
may  be  divided.  This  occurs  only  when  the  vote  is  very 
close  or  when  the  same  elector  or  electors  are  on  different 
tickets.  In  California  and  Ohio  the  vote  was  very  close, 
giving  Cleveland  one  elector  in  Ohio  and  Harrison  one  in 
California.  On  account  of  personal  preferences,  or  for  some 
other  reason  this  one  elector  ran  ahead  of  the  ticket.  In 
Oregon  one  elector  was  on  two  tickets.  In  North  Dakota 
two  Populist  and  one  Republican  electors  were  elected,  but 
on  e  of  the  Populists  voted  for  Cleveland,  thus  dividing 
equally  the  vote  of  the  state.  The  vote  was  divided  in 
Michigan  because  by  act  of  Legislature  each  Congressional 
district  voted  separately  for  an  elector. 


618 


IMMIGRATION. 


Immigration  into  the  United  States, 
1820=1895. 


Year. 

Total 

Immigrants. 

Total 
Year.                              Immigrants. 

1820  

8,385 

1860 

150,237 
89,724 
89,207 
174,524 
193,195 
247,453 
163,594 

298,967 
282,189 
352,569 
387,203 
821,350 
404,806 
459,803 
813,339 
227,498 
169,986 
141,857 
138,469 
177,826 
457,257 
669,431 
788,992 
603,322 
518,592 
395,346 
334,203 
490,109 
546,889 
444,42* 
455,302 
560,319 
623,084 
502,917 
314,467 
279,948 

1821  

9,127 

1861  

1822  

6,911 

1862  

1823 

6354 

1863 

1824 

...          .        7,912 

1864 

1825 

J.0,199 

1865  

1828      

10,837 

1866  

1827  

18,875 

Fiscal  year  ending  June  30. 
1867  

1828  

27,382 

1829  

22,520 

1830 

23322 

1868 

1831 

22,633 

1869 

1832 

60,482 

1870 

1833  

58,540 

1871      

1834  

65,365 

1872  

1835  

45,374 

1873  

1836 

76242 

1874 

1837 

79,340 

1875 

1836 

...               .      38,914 

1876 

1839      

68,069 

1877        

1840  

84,066 

1878     

1841  

80,289 

1879  

1842 

104  565 

1880 

1843 

52,496 

1881 

1844 

78,615 

1882                             

1845      .       .   . 

114,371 

1883        

1846        

154,416 

1884  

1847 

234968 

1885 

1848 

226  527 

1886 

1849 

297  024 

1887 

1850      .      ... 

369,986 

1888        

1851      

379,466 

1889    

1852 

871  603 

1890 

1853 

368645 

1891 

1854 

427,833 

1892 

1855        ...     . 

200,877 

1893  .. 

1856 

195  857 

1894  

1857 

246945 

1895  

1858  

119,501 

Total                                   17 

,101,425 

250,000 

1859  

118  616 

From  1789  to  1820,  estimated, 

COMPARATIVE  POPULATION  OF  PRINCIPAL  CITIES.  619 


FIFTY     PRINCIPAL    CITIES     IN     1900    IN    THE    ORDER     OF 
THEIR   RANK. 


CITIES. 

POPULATION. 

INCREASE  FROM 
1890  TO  1900 

1900 

1890 

Number. 

Per  Ct. 

New  York  NY     

3,437,202 
1,698,575 
1,293,697 
575,238 
560,892 
508,957 
381,768 
352,387 
342,782 
325,902 
321,616 
287,104 
285,704 
285,315 
278,718 
246,070 
206,433 
204,731 
202,718 
175,597 
169,164 
163,752 
163,065 
162,608 
133,859 
131,822 
129,896 
125,560 
118,421 
108,374 
108,027 
105,171 
104,863 
102,979 
102,555 
102,479 
102,320 
102,026 

2,492,591 
1,099,850 
1,046,964 
451,770 
448,477 
434,439 
261,353 
255,664 
298,997 
296,908 
238,617 
242,039 
205,876 
204,468 
230,392 
181,830 
163,003 
161,129 
164,738 
132,146 
105,436 
132,716 
133,156 
133,896 
106,713 
81,434 
105,287 
88,150 
84,655 
88,143 
81,298 
78,347 
74,398 
52,324 
140,452 
50,395 
64,495 
75,215 

944,611 
598,725 
246,733 
123,468 
112,415 
74,518 
120,415 
96,723 
43,785 
28,994 
82,999 
45,065 
79,828 
80,847 
48,326 
64,240 
43,430 
43,602 
37,980 
43,451 
63,728 
31,036 
29,909 
28,712 
27,146 
50,388 
24,609 
37,410 
33,766 
20,231 
26,729 
26,824 
30,465 
50,655 
*37,897 
52,084 
87,825 
26,811 

37.8 
54.4 
23.5 
27.3 
25.0 
17.1 
46.0 
37.8 
14.6 
9.7 
34.7 
18.6 
38.7 
39.5 
20.9 
35.3 
26.8 
27.0 
23.0 
32.8 
60.4 
23.3 
22.4 
21.4 
25.4 
61.8 
23.3 
42.4 
39.8 
22.9 
32.8 
34.2 
40.9 
96.8 
26.9 
103.3 
58.6 
35.6 

Chicago    111  

Philadelphia,  Pa      

St  Louis  Mo  

Boston    Mass     

Baltimore  Md  

Cleveland,  Ohio  

Buffalo  N.  Y     

Pittsburg,  Pa  

New  Orleans,  La  

Detroit  Mich          .     ... 

Milwaukee    Wis 

Washington,  D  C  

Newark,  N.  J  
Tersev  Citv,  N.  T.  . 

iciocy    v.iiy,  i-i.  j  

Minneapolis,  Minn  

Providence,  R.I  ....... 

Kansas  City,  Mo  

St.  Paul,  Minn  

Rochester,  N.  Y  
Denver,  Colo  

Toledo,  Ohio  

Allegheny,  Pa  

Columbus,  Ohio  

Worcester,  Mass  

Syracuse,  N.  Y  

New  Haven,  Conn  

Paterson,  N.  J  

Fall  River,  Mass  

St.  Joseph,  Mo  

Omaha,  Neb  

Los  Angeles,  Cal  

Memphis,  Tenn 

Scranton,  Pa  

*Loss, 


620 


WARS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


FIFTY    PRINCIPAL    CITIES     IN     1900     IN     THE     ORDER     OP 

THEIR  RANK — Continued. 


CITIES. 

POPULATION. 

INCREASE  FROM 
1890  TO  1900 

1900 

1890 

Number. 

Per  Ct. 

Lowell,  Mass  

94,969 
94,151 
91,886 
90,426 
89,872 
87,565 
85,333 
85,050 
80,865 
80,671 
79,850 
78,961 

77,696 
94,923 
70,028 
46,385 
65,533 
60,278 
61,220 
81,388 
76,168 
42,837 
53,230 
58,661 

17,273 
*772 
21,858 
44,041 
24,339 
27,287 
24,113 
3,662 
4,697 
37,834 
26,620 
20,300 

22.2 

0.8 
31.2 
94.9 
37.1 
45.2 
39.3 
4.4 
6.1 
88.3 
50.0 
34.6 

Albany,  N.  Y  

Cambridge,  Mass  

Portland,  Ore  

Atlanta,  Ga  

Grand  Rapids,  Mich.... 
Dayton,  Ohio  

Nashville,  Tenn  

Seattle,  Wash  

Hartford,  Conn  
Reading  Pa  

Wars  of  the  United  States. 


BY  WHAT  NAME  KNOWN. 

LENGTH  OF  WAR. 

FORCE 
ENGAGED. 

From. 

To. 

Regulars. 

Militia 
and 
Volun- 
teers. 

War  of  the  Revolution  .  . 
Northwestern  Indian  
War  with  France    .  . 

April  19,  1775 
Sept.  19,  1790 
July     9,  1798 
June  10,  1801 
July  27,1813 
June  18,  1812 
Nov.  20,  1817 
April  21,  1831 
1836 
May     5,  1836 
Dec.  23,1835 
1838 
April  24,  1846 
1849 
1856 
1861 
•oops  engaged  i 

April  11,  1783 
Aug.     3,  1795 
Sept.  30,  1800 
June    4,1805 
Aug.     9,  1814 
Feb.  17,1815 
Oct.    21,1818 
Sept.  31,  1832 
1837 
Sept.  30,  1837 
Aug.  14,1843 
1839 
July    4,1848 
1855 
1858        ' 
1865      ^ 
n  Civil  War.... 

130,711 

164,080 

War  with  Tripoli 

Creek  Indian  
War  of  1812,  Gt.  Britain.. 
Seniinole  Indian 

600 
85,000 
1,000 
1,339 

13,181 
471,622 
6,911 
5,126 
9,494 
12,483 
29,953 
1,500 
78,776 
1,061 
3,687 
5,408 
.600,000 

Black  Hawk  Indian  
Cherokee  disturbance.  .. 
Creek  Indian  War  

935 
11,169 

'  36,954 
1,500 

Florida  Indian  

Aroostook  disturbance  .  . 
War  with  Mexico 

Apache,  Navajo  and  Utah 
Seniinole  Indi*n     .  . 

Civil  War  

2,77 

Number  of  Confederate  ti 

COST  OF   WARS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES.  621 

Cost  of  Wars  of  the  United  States. 

Revolutionary  ............................................  $  135,193,703.00 

War  of  1812-15  .............................................      107,159,003.00 

Mexican  War..  ..........................................  ..      100,000,000.00 

Rebellion  ...................................................  6,189,929,908.58 

Estimated  cost  of  Indian  wars  from  July  4,  1776,  to 

June  30,  1886  ..........................................     696,389,277.68 

Spanish-American,  including  $20,000,000.00  for  Philip- 

pine Islands.  ....................  ....  ...............     222,000,000.00 

Losses  in  wars  — 

Sio0AUiti-nniEn)?,lish)--y-J"---  ........................  50,000  men 

1812-15  killed  and  wounded  ...............  5614 

Mexican  War  ____  ...  ............  3  42Q 

"''''''''''' 


Rebellion         n2°ri?d"j.--Ji  ..........  ,...........279,376 

vu'  ?  Confederate—  died  .................  300,000 

'Spanish-American,  killed,  wounded  and  died  in  camp    3,883 

*These    figures    do    not    include  those  who  died  after  being 
mastered  out. 

-  In  the  War  of  1812-15  there  were  10  battles,  8  combats 
and  assaults,  52  actions  and  bombardments.  In  the  Mexican 

•  War  there  were  11  pitched  battles  and  35  actions,  combats, 
sieges  and  skirmishes.  In  the  Civil  War  of  1861-5  there 
.were  107  pitched  battles,  102  combats,  and  362  actions, 
sieges,  ana  lesser  affairs.  Since  1812  the  United  States 
army  has  had  over  640  battles,  rights,  and  actions  against 
Indians.  Since  1789  there  have  been  912  garrisoned  forts, 

'  Arsenals  and  military  posts  in  the  United  States.  At  the 
present  time  (1891)  there  are  144  garrisoned  forts,  arsenals 
and  military  posts. 

'.  Up  to  and  including  June,  1861,  there  were  1,966  grad- 
uates of  the  Military  Academy,  and  of  these  there  were 
•living  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  of  1861-5  1,249. 

;  ;  Of  the  1,249,  428  were  in  civil  life,  and  821  were  in  the  mili- 
tary service  of  the  United  States.  Of  those  in  civil  life,  292 
took  sides  with  the  Union  and  99  joined  the  Confederacy, 
while  37  are  unknown.  Of  the  821  in  the  army,  627  sided 
with  the  Union,  184  joined  the  Confederacy,  and  10  took 

r  :  neither  side.  Of  the  99  who  joined  the  Confederacy  from  civil 
life  all,  except  one,  were  either  born  and  brought  up  or  were 
residents  of  southern  territory.  On  the  other  hand,  of  the 
350  graduates  born  or  appointed  from  southern  states,  162 
.  remained  loyal  to  the  United  States.  Of  the  graduates  who 
served  in  the  Civil  War,  one-fifth  were  kUled  in  battle,  while 
one-half  were  wounded.  —  Lieutenant  W<  R.Hamilton,  U.S, 
A.  (From  World  Almanac.} 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Adams',  John,  Administra- 
tion  287 

Adams',  John  Quincy,  Ad- 
ministration  311 

Administrations 279 

Advantage's  of  Citizen 19 

Agricultural  Products 96 

American -History 62 

America  Holds  the  Future.  103 
American  Independence...   49 

Arbitration 468 

Arbitration,  International.. 589 
Arthur's  Administration  ...380 

Atlantic  Cable 118 

Australian  Ballot 184 

Ballot,  Corrupt  and  Ignor- 
ant  107 

Ballot . 180 

Ballot  Reform 180,  193 

Ballot  an  Educator 200 


Bimetallism. .561.  567 


Board   of   Labor  Concilia 


573,  615 


.....474 

.*...609 

..565 


tion 

Boer-British  War. 

Bryan.  William  J.. 

Buchanan's  Administra- 
tion   344 

Bullion 615 

8 able.  Atlantic 118 
ables.  Different  Lines 120 

Capital  Punishment 406 

Carpet  Baggers 363 

Chicago 84 

Chicago  Stock  Yards 87 

Cities,    Government    of 

Large : 106,  456 

Cities.  Growth  of 82 

Citizens,  The 19 

Citizenship 30 

Civil  Rights 37 

Civil  Service  Reform 446 

Civil  Service  Rules 452 

Clay's  Compromise  Bill 317 

Cleveland's  First  Adminis- 
tration  383 

Cleveland's  Second  Admin- 
istration  392 

Coins,  Chief  of  U.  S 558 

Coinage. . . .' 615 

Coinage  Statistics 559 


Common  School  System 417 

Competition  that  Kills 480 

Congress  and  Parliaments. 168 

Congress,  Changes  in 176 

Constitution  of  United 

^States 147 

Corner  Stones  of  History. ..   62 

Cost  of  Wars 621 

Cotton  Gin 109 

Crime  400 

Cuban  Independence 596 

Cumulative  Voting 193 

Current  Problems  and  Top- 
ics  :.401 

Dangers,  Threatening 105 

Debt,  Mortgage  and.Public.415 
Declaration   of    Independ- 

ence 142 

Decoratipn  Day 73 

Demonetization  of  Silver.. .567 
Departments   of  Govern- 
ment  160 

Double  Standard ...561 

Dred  Scott  Case ? .  345 

Duties  of  Citizen 20 

fducation 401 
ducational  Institutions  ..  .103 
Educational  Qualifications 

for  Voting 191 

Electoral  Votes 616.617 

Electric  Light 133 

Emancipation  Pr  oc  lama- 

tion 159,  352 

Explanation  of  "16  to  1"  ...564 

Fiat  Money , . 624 

Filibustering , 273 

Fillmore's  Administration  ..336 

First  Canals 80 

First  Congress 49 

Flag,  National ., 66 

Foreign  Ownership  of: 

Land . 443 

Free  Coinage 566 

Free  Silver 572 

Free  Trade 508 

Fulton's  Steamboat 121 

Calveston 608 

Garfield's  Administration.. 374 
Gerrymandering u 275 


622 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


623 


PAGE. 

Glossary 615 

Gold  and  Silver  Legislatiori.561 
Gold  and    Silver  Statis- 
tics   106,  559 

Gold  Standard 561.  577 

Gd^d  Standard  Countries  ..615 

Gobd  Times 585 

Gdyernment   of  Large  Cit- 

i€fs 456 

Government    Control    of 

R.  R 501 

Government,   Departments 

of 160 

Grant's    Administra- 

tions 361,  365 

Growth  of  Cities 82 

Hard  Times 581 

Harrison's,  W.  H.,  Admin- 
istration  327 

Harrison's,  Benj.,  Adminis- 
tration   385 

Hayes'  Administration 370 

Hawaii 606 

History  of  Voting 180 

Homestead  Laws 442 

Hope  of  Ofar  Public  School. 422 
How  to  Become  a  Speaker.  40 

How  Bills  are  Passed 162 

How  Land  is  Surveyed 439 

How  Laws  are  Made 162 

How  Logan  was  Elected...  194 
How  to  Locate  Land 441 

Immigration 105,  618 

Industrial  Armies 495 

Industry,  Our. 100 

Inflation 615 

Ingenuity,  Our 100 

Issues  of  the  Day 459 

Intemperance 105,  402,  484 

International  Arbitration. ..589 
International '  arid   Foreign 

Affairs  588 

Invention  of  Electric  Light.133 
Inventors  and  Inventions  ..108 

Jackson's  Administra- 
tions   313.  319 

Jefferson's,  Thomas,  Ad- 
ministrations   291,  295 

Johnson's  Administration.. 359 

Killing  Cattle  at  Armour's.   87 
Killing  Hogs  at  Armour's..  89 

,abor.v..V 474 

>abor  Conciliation 474 

ibor  Emancipated 481 

>r  Legislation 477 

>r  Organized 475 

,abor  Principles  of 475 


PAGE. 

LaFayette 309 

Land  and  Land  Laws ,.439 

Land  Owned  by  Foreigners. 443 

Legal  'Fender 563 

Liberties,  Our  Consti'tional  98 
Lincoln's  Adm'is'tions,  350,  356 

Madison's    Administra- 
tions   298-301 

McKinley  and  Wilson  Bills.514 
McKinley's  Adminis'tion.  400a 

Mexican  War 333 

Military  Academy .-438 

Military  Naval  School 435 

Military  Training  in  Schools432 

Mineral  Resources 96 

Money,  Commodities  Used. 549 
Money,  First  in  America  ..  .543 
Money.  Gold  and  Silver  —  556 

Money,  Paper 547 

Money,  Philosophy   and 

Laws ..550 

Money,  Question 575 

Money,  Volume 568 

Monroe's  Adm'is'tions. 303,  308 

Monroe  Doctrine 304,  588 

Morse's  Trial. 113 

Mortgage  Debt 415 

National  Nominating  Con- 
ventions   230 

Naturalization  Laws 31 

Naval  Academy 435 

New  Era  in  Traveling 132 

New  York 82 

Nominating  Conventions... 230 

Origin  of  Decoration  Day..   73 

Origin  of  Flag 65 

Origin  of  Political  Parties. .217 
Origin  of  Thanksgiving  Day  70 

Original  Thirteen  States 92 

Our  Country.. 49 

Our  Government ..142 

Our  National  Greatness —   91 

Panics,  History  of 527 

Parity  of  Gold  and  Silver... 615 

Parliamentary  Laws 44 

Parties,  Rise  and  Fall 209 

Party  Government 224 

Philanthropy,  Our 100 

Pierce's  Administration 339 

Political  Training  for  Citi-    ( 

)     zens . ... 22 

Political  Boss 271 

Political  Parties.  Origin  ....217 

Political  Land  Slides 261 

Political  Rights 37 

Folk's  Administration 332 

Popular  Rights 320 

Population,  Our 94 

Population  of  Cities 619 


624 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Printing  Telegraphs 120 

Prison  Labor 403 

Prison  Reform  403 

Protection 506 

Public  Debt 415 

Public  Schools 422 

Pullman  Strike ..463 

Qualifications  for  Voting. ..186 

Railroad,  First 124 

Railroad's  Right  of  Control, 503 

Registration  Laws 185 

Responsibilities  of  Citizens,  19 
Rhymed  History  of  Admin- 
istrations  399 

Right  and  Wrong  of  Strikes,470 

Right  of  Petition  ..' 273 

Rightr  of  Citizens 33 

Russell's  Speech 260 

Scenery,  Our 96 

School  Savings  Banks 426 

Scientific  Temperance    In- 
struction   487 

Seignorage 615 

Seven  Wonders  of  America,  91 

Sewing  Machine,  First 110 

Shall  Women  Vote? 197 

Silver  Demonetization 567 

Silver  Standard 561,  615 

Silver  Standard  Countries  .615 

Sound  Money 570 

South  African  Republic..  ..610 
Spanish-American  War  —  601 

Spoils  System 267 

Squatter  Sovereignty.. 336,  340 

State  Papers 142 

Steamboat  First 120 

Steamboat,  Fulton's 121 

Stock  Yards 87 

Story  of  Independence 49 

Story  of  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence    57 

Story  of  Telegraph 116 


PAGE. 

Street  Car.  First 128 

Strikes.  History 469 

Strikes,  Prevention.. 468. 

Strikes,  Right  and  Wrong  of ,470 

Tariff... 

Tariff  of  1828 316 

Tariff,  History  of ..510 

Tariff,  McKinley 514 

Tariff  Commission  League. 517 

Tariff  Rates 516 

Tariff  Tables .-....• 5.18 

Taylor's  Administration..  ..336 
Telegraph,  First' Electric,...  116 
Telephone,  Discovery  of..  .137 

Thanksgiving  Day... 70 

Thirteen  Original  States...   92; : 

Tramp,  Problem  of ;.  .490 

Transvaal , . . ,,6X0.  • 

Trusts,  Causes  and  Effects,498 
Tyler's  Administration  ...,.329  • 

Typesetting  Machine.. 136  : 

Typewriter,  Story  of 137  • 

Van     Buren's  Administra- 
tion  323: 

Venezuela  Dispute.. 590  : 

Voting 180- 

Voting,  Qualifications  for .-.186 

Wars  of  United  States 620. 

Washington's    Administra- 
tions  279,  282 

Wealth,  Centralization  of..  105 

Wealth.  Our  National 98 

What  Americans  Have 

Done 73 

WilsonBill :...514 

Where  Women  Vote 204 

XRays £ 139 

Young  Man's  First  Vote 29 

Young  Statesman's  Oppor- 
tunity   27 


14  DAY  USE 

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LOAN  DEPT. 

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